Separation Anxiety
by Lithrael
Summary: Arukenimon and Mummymon go adventuring twelve years after the end of 02. They're good at landing in trouble. COMPLETE
1. The Engine

* * *

A/N: A nice, quiet adventure for our ex-villains. Heheh. Complete. A few of the Chosen Children appear later, as well.

* * *

The sound of a four-stroke engine reached out for miles in the quiet evening. A telltale trail of dust hung high in the dry air.

The wind whipped her hair into a storm of snapping white threads. She scowled behind her shades and glanced at her companion at the wheel. He noticed her attention with a quick glance of his own and grinned. She rolled her eyes and he chuckled to himself, licking the dust out of his pointed teeth.

"It's a shame you managed to resurrect this scrapheap of a jeep," Arukenimon grumbled, kicking the floor panel disconsolately with one heel. "I've had just about enough of this open air nonsense."

"Why would you want to shut out the world?" Mummymon replied, shrugging. "Don't you love to feel the wind on your face? Doesn't it make you feel alive?" He grinned wide again and sighed.

Arukenimon tried to hide a thoughtful moment with a scowl. The two of them had been reconfigured not too long ago, and Mummymon was still repulsively in love with life. Arukenimon was less enthusiastic. Oikawa was gone, her desire for power had more or less fizzled out, and she was at a loose end. Everything seemed so.. pointless.

Mummymon was still after her, of course. She'd initially been pleased to find herself alive, unemployed, and free to ditch the clueless beast. But a few weeks of solitude had left her feeling strange and despondent. So much so that when Mummymon had showed up one morning, tearful and begging for her companionship, she had let him hug her for an appallingly long time.

But she could still hear him calling to her as she trembled in Belialvamdemon's talons, and she wished she'd been alive to see him die. It couldn't have been worse than the visions that visited her dreams.

He'd died trying to avenge her. The thought filled her with a feeling she didn't understand. She felt like she was missing something very obvious, and she hated it. She sunk down a little further in her seat and scowled hard enough to scare off a thundercloud.

The car stopped.

She turned a glare onto Mummymon, but he was staring down into her face, concerned. "Something's wrong..?" he ventured.

"Yes - we stopped."

"You know what I meant. Arukenimon..." he frowned, raising his head, "you've been in a foul mood for a long time. Too long. We have to talk about this."

"Get it through your thick skull: you've already pestered me into telling you everything I can think of that's bothering me! There's no point in pestering me any more."

"Then I'll have to try something new," he smiled.

She made a disgusted noise.

Mummymon frowned in concentration, trying to think how he could get Arukeni out of this horrible funk. He was proud of the way he'd fooled her into thinking this exploration of the Digital World was her idea. And at first she'd seemed happy, ordering him around and planning their route. Now it seemed like she'd lost interest and realised that she was never really in command, not the way she wanted to be. Not of herself.

He was sure she was upset because she thought she didn't have a purpose. Whatever she'd believed at the time, she'd always been a tool, someone's means to an end - as indeed had he. But where he was happy to be free, she seemed to have nothing to do with it. He was guiltily glad she had seemed so upset by the time she spent without him, otherwise he would be tempted to think she was only with him because it was... somewhere to be. He still wanted her terribly, and he was more certain than ever that she needed him too, but he didn't want to screw things up by seriously pressing her about it before she got her head on straight.

But how could he help her find her own path when she resented every idea he came up with _because it wasn't hers? _

He didn't know what to do.

Arukenimon got tired of being stared at and, giving a little frustrated growl, got out of the car. She slammed the door behind her and proceeded to stalk away. She did her best to ignore Mummymon's cries of protest and scowled resolutely forward as he caught up to her.

"Where are you going, my dear?" he asked from a dutiful half pace behind her.

"I'm going," she replied in clipped tones, "for a walk."

"It'll be dark soon," he protested. "I don't know if it's safe here.. I've.. We've never been here before."

"Fine then," she snarled, and to his surprise she shifted into her full Digimon form as she marched forward, hardly even breaking her stride during the transition to walking on six feet, though he could practically hear her grinding her teeth with effort. Bodysense and balance were seriously impaired while between forms, as it was not strictly a natural process like Digivolving.

"I meant... I meant we shouldn't stop here."

She turned her slender-horned head to glare at him, and her feet came down harder with each step, punching deep into the dry earth, cracking it. "I can take care of myself."

Mummymon chewed his lip to keep from telling her to calm down and stopped to change, himself. Just in case. He had to admit he felt better with his dedicated rifle, Obelisk, slung under one arm. His big, clawed feet spread his comparatively slight weight like a camel's, so that all he left behind were shallow footprints in the dust, as he hurried to catch her again.

"Funny, I don't remember inviting you," she said without looking at him.

"I'm sorry," he replied. It was almost routine. He wondered if she'd noticed it yet. She wanted an audience for her unhappiness, and she denied it fiercely, but by now they were little more than token protests and apologies. "How far are we going to go?"

"A far as it takes to stop thinking about twisting your interfering head off your skinny neck."

He made a face, surprised at the level of venom but not particularly offended. "We'll need to save some daylight to find a place to camp.."

"I _am _ looking for a place to camp," she snapped. "I don't know why you think that I... Wha... What's this?"

Mummymon's eye widened as he saw it too. There was a large, ruby-red stone mounted in some sort of plinth - it looked like it was the focus of a focusing dish. He could see it was a device rather than an artifact such as the Holy Stones had been.

"Hmm," Arukenimon grinned, "An unguarded, expensive science experiment. Just what I needed to brighten my day." With something like this, they could afford to sleep somewhere nice at the next town..

Looking around, Mummymon noticed several more of them, spread out in a pattern on the desert floor. At least one of the ones he could see was already missing its gem. "It looks that way," he admitted, "but I don't know if it's a good idea.. We can't really know it's not being watched.."

"So what if it is? We can pulverise anyone who gets in our way."

He sighed heavily, trying to work up the courage to face her. "I... I don't think we should steal it, Arukenimon."

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him in astonishment. Then she scowled, reached back and snatched the gem from its mount and brandished it in front of him. "And what are you going to do about it?"

He just had time to make a pained expression before the ground lurched and they were both falling.

* * *

Mummymon woke up to a long, jackal-like face staring at him, and shot backwards in a surprised scramble. He glanced around and spotted Arukenimon lying apparently asleep a short distance away. The three Digimon seemed to be the only things in this small room. It was lit by small panels near the ceiling, glowing with a pale light that suggested battery power.

"Good morning," the Digimon said eventually. "I am Toeremon. We are in a trap. Perhaps we can help one another."

Mummymon decided he wasn't an immediate concern, and checked that Arukenimon was ok before turning his attention to the new acquaintance. "Toeremon, is it? I'm Mummymon and this is Arukenimon... We're trapped? By who?" He didn't know of any Digimon that were starting trouble these days. The Digital World had been very calm of late.

Toeremon turned his head sideways in what seemed to be consideration. "It is an old trap," he said. "We are trapped by no one."

"So nobody's watching, and nobody's coming to collect us," Mummymon figured. "We need to escape."

The Digimon nodded slowly.

"Can we blast our way out?" he asked, hefting his rifle.

"I think... it would reflect," Toeremon warned.

Mummymon frowned and turned back to the sleeping Aru. He stroked her face gently with his knuckles. "Wake up, my dear," he called, withdrawing his hand just as she showed signs of coming around.

"Ugh," she said eloquently, covering her face with one hand. She blinked and looked around.

"We fell in a trap," Mummymon informed her.

"I'd guessed," she muttered. "Ugh, it's crowded in here. I should change."

"No, wait!" he disagreed, "Maybe you can melt through these walls and get us out."

"This wall," Toeremon affirmed, tapping his knuckles against one of the nearly featureless planes with deliberation.

"Who's _that? _"

"I am Toeremon." He bowed his head. "You will not have heard of me."

"If you're nobody important, then get out of the way," she said, hauling herself up onto her feet. She stared at the wall, concentrating.

"Take your time, my dear," Mummymon offered.

"Shut up," she replied. "Acid Mist!" She disgorged her attack upon the wall, concentrating it as much as she could without harming herself. Vile fumes began to fill the small room, from the melting wall and the mist itself. Several layers of material were already melted through. Her eyes watered but she took a deep breath and repeated her attack.

"Percussive kick!" Toeremon called out, leaning back with one hand on the floor and kicking out. A wave of force crossed the small room and hit the weakened, still melting wall and punched through it. Most of the damaged wall was torn away from the blow. He hurried out into the clearer air.

Mummymon waited as Arukenimon shifted back to her human shape to fit through their escape route, and then followed her out. He grinned at her. "You were magnificent!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere... If I keep saying it, maybe it'll sink in..."

"Do not celebrate until you are sure you are free," Toeremon cautioned. "You do not know this place. I think we are deeper underground than you realise."

"Underground?" Mummymon wondered, looking around the room they had escaped into. It was also dimly lit by panels like the ones in the cell. Several corridors and a closed door led off it. He looked up and wondered how much weight of earth might be pressing down on them. It made him feel uneasy. "Spooky..."

"And dark," Aru observed.

"Well, maybe if you took your shades off," Mummymon grinned.

"Go unwrap yourself," she shot back.

"BE... quiet," Toeremon snapped from the other end of the room, where he was investigating a data panel. "It may be as I feared. It is difficult to tell. There is very little power. I cannot.. can only access emergency functions. They seem to be running from a battery."

Arukenimon approached and peered around his arm at the data panel. "Meaning? Are we trapped?"

Toeremon scowled at her. "Perhaps we are trapped. Perhaps not. We must go," he traced his finger along a line on the panel and Arukenimon realised it was a map, "and find out."

* * *

She was surprised to find she didn't really mind this. The exercise of their brisk walk, the silence, the dark. She found it soothing somehow, and was in serious danger of smiling at the sound of the echoes of their footsteps syncing up with their new ones. Mummymon looked uneasy. He glanced at her often.

Toeremon was interested in her too, and nonchalantly asked, "the change between your current form and the one you arrived in. It did not appear to be an evolution."

She snapped out of her echo listening trance and narrowed her eyes. "What's it to you?"

"I am merely curious." Toeremon tried the access on another door and once again kicked it in instead, and led them through. This room looked more important than the other so far. It was large, with a high ceiling, a raised dais on one side and banks of simple-looking instruments, and an archway set against another wall. Toeremon looked intrigued, and gave the whole room a cursory examination. The two companions began to look around themselves, and Toeremon looked up sharply from his studies, warning, "do not step onto the dais.. It may be dangerous."

Arukenimon shrugged. "So?" she asked, "Is it something useful? Enlighten us or keep going... I don't want to be here all day."

"It is.. not useful," Toeremon sighed, ceasing his investigation. "You are correct. We should continue."

"You seem interested enough," she pressed, "What is it?"

Toeremon seemed to consider the question. He turned to another data panel and stared at it. "According to the information, this is an engine room. Power was supplied to this place through," he gestured around at the room at nothing in particular, "the Engine. I am not sure of... I am not sure."

Mummymon perked up. "Maybe we can get it started? It would be nice to have light at least. And then you can get into the computers."

Toeremon stared and then shook his head. "It would be difficult. I do not know.. It would be.." he glanced at the dais and the devices, hanging from the walls like entrails, that focussed on it. "We probably should not. Perhaps we do not need to." He crossed to the far door, kicked it open, and ducked through.

The door out led to a corridor that sloped sharply up and quickly gave way from paneled walls to rough-hewn stone, though there were still lights. "Seems things are looking up," Mummymon grinned, and ran ahead of them a little way.

When Arukenimon and Toeremon caught up with him, he was in a small room at the end of the corridor, scowling at a metal archway that led straight into the rock face. He caught the stranger's eye and flicked a stray bandage out of his face with one claw. "Don't tell me _this _ is the way out..."

Toeremon blinked slowly. "This is the way out."

Arukenimon growled. "What do you _mean _," she hissed.

"I think.. It is meant to be an emergency gate.. the destination is aboveground. But it seems the battery power is not sufficient."

Aru's lip curled. "But there _is _ another way out?"

"Perhaps," Toeremon conceded. He kicked at the wall near the archway and dust slid off it, revealing a panel door like those in the complex. It slid open easily, revealing a short tunnel with a metal corkscrew staircase at the end. He stared for a long moment. "If I read the map correctly, this should lead to the surface. I will scout ahead and determine if it is the correct route."

"Oh, no, we're not splitting up, buster," Aru sneered slyly. "And you're not leaving us alone."

"It's alright, Arukenimon," Mummymon said, "I'll go with him. You rest here. We'll be back just as soon as we know this is the way to go."

"And- Well.. I don't want to climb any more stairs than I have to," she said, coming dangerously close to pouting. She didn't want to be left alone here. But she couldn't possibly let Mummymon know that.

* * *

They hadn't gone all that far when the staircase ended in rubble and rock. "It's caved in," Mummymon whined, "What do we do now? There are more ways up, aren't there?"

But Toeremon was only staring. "No. I do not believe so."

"Oh, no.."

"I am sorry."

Mummymon tried hard to think. If only there was power, he was sure he could port from some of the screens they'd passed. But if there was power, they'd already be out. It was so hard to concentrate with all this rock everywhere! He didn't want to panic...

Toeremon made a nervous noise. "There is still a way out," he said.

"There is? Let's try it," Mummymon grinned, turning around, relief loosening his chest and throat.

"It is not a good way. One of us will die, I think."

Mummymon stopped in his tracks.

"One of us must go back to the Engine room and," Toeremon shrugged helplessly, "become fuel. Then the gate will-"

"What? You mean that thing back there.. It runs on _people? _"

"I believe so," he blinked, not meeting Mummymon's eye for more than a few moments at a time.

Mummymon set his jaw. "I have an obligation to Arukenimon. I won't leave her. And I certainly won't let her die."

"I also have an obligation," Toeremon replied, "to those that rely on me. It seems we must choose."

"You or me. Not Arukenimon."

"If that is your wish."

"So how do we decide?"

"It may not be fatal..."

"You _believe _ it is, though, don't you?"

Toeremon lowered his head. "Yes."

Mummymon scowled, closing his eyes, blowing a breath out through his teeth. "I'll go, then." He'd been reconfigured before. He'd be ok. It would just take a long time. And Aru.. well.. she'd be alright. She was strong. She never really needed him, anyway. No matter how much he wanted her to. Maybe she would make better friends with the old Chosen Child, Iori. It would do them both good. And she could find herself, the way she'd always wanted to.

Toeremon bowed fully. "I will.. assist you."

"No... I'll go alone. I don't want Arukenimon to see. I'll just go; you and Arukenimon wait by the gate. Please," he waited till Toeremon looked up, "take care of her. Make sure she gets out ok. Our- her vehicle is nearby. She'll be fine."

He kept telling himself that as Toeremon told him what he'd have to do.

It wouldn't be hard.

* * *

Arukenimon waited more and more sourly by the gate. She wished she'd gone with them. Then at least-

"Sorry, my dear," Mummymon called down the stairs as he came into sight, his leg braces clacking loudly on the metal steps, "This way is no good. It's all caved in."

"Well, that was useless," she sniffed.

"It's ok," he said, stepping aside for Toeremon, who went to stand by the gate. "Toeremon thinks we can get that gate working. I'm going to head back to the Engine room and see if I can't route some power through to it." Mummymon smiled bravely at her, trying not to let it show. There were tears in his eye, but at least his voice was steady as he said, "I'll see you soon, Arukenimon."

She frowned back, uncomfortable, but he only smiled wider, full into his true-love face. "Cut that out."

All at once he made up his mind and snatched her close for a desperate kiss. She wrested herself loose, outraged, twisted back and clocked him in the jaw with her elbow.

But he didn't mind. And he barley heard her stream of epithets. He was happy in his soul.

Because for a moment, she had kissed back.

Rubbing his jaw tenderly, he stepped away and waved, turned and ran down the long slope of the tunnel, out of sight.

"Ugh! What an utter moron," Arukenimon spat after him, pulling the back of her arm across her mouth in disgust.

Toeremon looked down on her with a little contemplative scowl. "You could have been kinder to him, as he goes to such a fate for you."

She growled with irritation. "For me? He's saving his own hide. And _you'll _ be getting out too, you know."

He slowly tilted his head to one side. "He is not saving his hide."

She snorted. "What would you call it? Philanthropy? Philogyny more like. He's trying to impress me."

"He goes to his death."

"He... What?" She blinked up at him. "He does not. He's just powering up the engine and then we'll be on our way again."

"The Engine requires sustenance. The Engine thrives on Digital life. He goes to offer himself to it. To be consumed."

She stood there staring in disbelief for a long moment, and then they heard and felt the rock around them suddenly begin to hum with life. She felt strange, like something cold had coiled around her guts.

Toeremon watched the gate intently, but it failed to flicker to life. He scowled and investigated it.

Arukenimon glared at him. "WHAT are you _doing? _ Doesn't it _work? _"

"It.. This one is broken," he answered defeatedly, finding a bundle of heat-damaged cables inside an access panel.

She stared.

"There is another gate in the Engine room... It should be functional... We should go," Toeremon said, moving forward with long strides. "The Engine is running."

Mechanically, Arukenimon followed him.

* * *

The smell hit them as they entered the engine room. The whole room reeked of burned flesh. The other gate, an archway set into the wall, was filled with a shimmering pale green plane of light. Mummymon was a twisted, dark shape on the raised dais in the side of the white room.

Toeremon stood back, puzzled. "There should be nothing left."

She took slow steps towards him, disbelieving. She didn't know how he could possibly be alive like that, but he hadn't disintegrated. So maybe...? Oh, but he looked so terrible... She reached him, knelt down next to him, and the heat and desiccation made her skin prickle. His bandages had mostly been burned away. Even his claws were carbonized to a brittle matte black, and the ruin of his face was caught in an expression of utter torture. She stared at it, tears rising to her eyes. "Mummymon," she called to him hopelessly, "are you still there?"

Toeremon scowled. "He smells human."

"Shut up!" she yelled, and pulled one of Mummymon's hands close to her, ignoring the sound of cracking ash. "Mummymon, please! You're in there, aren't you? You can't leave! You _can't _!" She held his hand tight. There was horrible crunch and the hand dropped away from her, leaving her clutching a few of his long, black claws. She stared at them in her hand and lost her precious control, wailing with a painful sadness and dragging the corpse up against herself, where she hugged it tight.

"Look," Toeremon commanded, and she followed his gaze to the hand she had held.

Barely visible, poking out from the hollow ends of the broken-off claws, were pale pink fingertips.

She stared at them. Then she let Mummymon slide out of her arms, both her hands busy tearing at the dry shell of his burned hand to free whatever was inside. Toeremon knelt and joined her, working fragments loose from the joints that had begun to split when Arukenimon had moved him.

She freed a whole pink hand, warm and stiff, and squeezed it, calling out her companion's name.

There was a wrenching cough, and Mummymon's body spasmed and stretched, cracking. He pulled his free hand away from Arukenimon to tear at his face, rolling onto his knees and coughing hard, dust and fragments raining down from him.

She watched in horror as he pulled himself apart, desperately working those small fingers into the dry cracks of his face and ripping them away. "Stop," she cried, reaching for him, but Toeremon pulled her back.

Something silver and spidery fell about his downturned face as he worked at it. The tangle of fibers obscured him as he calmed and finally stopped, swaying a little with heavy breaths, dust still falling from him in little rivers.

Toeremon released her but she stayed still, staring. And then Mummymon raised his head to look tiredly out of a beautiful, pale human face, tousled silver hair draping across one of his bright, golden eyes. He met Arukenimon's gaze. "I won't ever give up," he said with an unsteady smile, "I won't stop trying as long as I have a place at your side to return to."

She stared for a long moment, and punched him hard in the chest. He fell backwards with a shout of pain while she screamed, "You nearly got yourself _killed, _ you reckless idiot!"

"You are a brave creature," Toeremon said to Mummymon, "But you have lost your place at her side."

Coughing hard from the blow, Mummymon got back to his knees. "Why do you say that?"

"Look at yourself. You are Human. And you are not Chosen. Life is.. difficult here for a Human, and if you go to their world you will be trapped there." He paused and looked the former Digimon over for a moment. "But in any case I don't think you'll be much use as a warrior anymore."

Mummymon looked down on himself, at his new hands. They were small compared to his old ones, soft, graceful. He made a fist and gasped at the feeling of fingernails digging into his palm. And his chest still hurt from Arukenimon's blow. He looked to Arukenimon, his heart folding up. He had finally lost his monstrous visage, but with it he had lost his strength. The strength that he knew she had occasionally appreciated.

"Gah," Arukenimon exclaimed suddenly, "you need pants."


	2. Half & Half

* * *

Arukenimon and Mummymon are back, thirteen years after the end of 02. Out adventuring, they become trapped in an underground complex, along with the strange Digimon, Toeremon. To escape, they must power up the complex - with Digital life. Mummymon does the honors, but instead of being consumed entirely, he is transformed into a human.

* * *

Toeremon left the two companions to each other and busied himself with the bank of instruments dominating the nearest wall. The Digital World promptly provided Mummymon with clothes reflecting his mind's eye: a hooded sweater in his usual blue, driving gloves, and other essentials. Arukenimon looked relieved. Mummymon put his misgivings about the situation to one side for the moment and concentrated on finding his balance in his new body. First things first.

Arukenimon watched him move and stumble with unknowing, drunken grace. She scowled. Her initial relief hadn't lasted long. He was alive... but what was he to her now? "How long will the power last?" she asked Toeremon.

"A long time," he replied, scanning lines of data on the now-functional computer screens. "It was very efficient. There is no hurry."

Mummymon walked up beside him, one hand on the ledge of the screen for support. "Why did it do this to me?"

"You have many questions... What are you?"

"Sorry?"

"If you were only a Digimon you would not be here now. I hypothesise you were part human. Now that is the only part which remains. Please explain yourself."

Mummymon shrugged. "I was part human. That's all there is to know."

The dog-like Digimon looked frustrated. "How did you come to be-"

Arukenimon's cry interrupted them. "WHAT is this?" she demanded, pointing furiously to a cubby-hole that had opened in the wall. Inside, on a padded floor, in Digimon form, lay Mummymon.

Toeremon growled and moved to examine the prone form while the others stared, thrown off. "It is alive," he pronounced.

"_I'm_ alive," the Human Mummymon took offense, "I mean, _he's_ alive! I'm not an 'it!'"

Arukenimon ignored him. "What the hell is this about?"

"_I do not know,_" Toeremon snapped.

"Arukenimon?"

All three of them stopped and stared at the new arrival, whose eye had opened just a sliver.

"It's good to see you," the Digimon mumbled, eye closing, and then he seemed once more fast asleep.

There was a long silence.

"What's going on?" the Human wailed, confused.

Toeremon threw his hands in the air. "It appears the Engine has reconfigured him from that which it absorbed. Do not ask me any more! I do not know. Let us _go_... I am tired of this place..." With that he stormed over to the still shimmering gate and disappeared through it.

Arukenimon and Mummymon glanced at each other, sharing their trepidation. "Well," Mummymon said, pushing his silver hair out of his face, "I guess I'll carry.. uh.. him." He reached for him.

Aru got in his way. "Don't be stupid. You're still staggering around like a foal, and I'm stronger than you anyway." She slipped her slender arms under the unconscious Digimon, picking him up easily, and headed for the gate.

Mummymon stood there, guts churning, then followed her.

* * *

The gate led them aboveground just as they'd hoped, into a small room that led outside. Mummymon ran to catch Toeremon. "Wait!" he called, "Please.. Can't you help put me back the way I was?"

The Digimon stopped and turned to glare at him. "No, I can't. I do not know that machine any more than you do. And frankly I have other pressing concerns. Find someone else to help you."

"I laid down my _life_ to set you free of that place!" Mummymon protested, outraged.

Toeremon shrugged. "Thank you," he said, and continued walking.

"Don't bother, Mummymon," Arukenimon sighed as she approached.

Looking over at her, he was struck by how much closer they were in height now. "Where am I?"

"Back in that gateway room. There's no point lugging him around just to look for the jeep."

"I.. I guess I'll keep an eye on, uh, him then..."

"Good idea. The last thing we need is your better half wandering off in a daze."

"What are we going to do?" he asked, trying not to whine.

She scowled at him. "Do? How should I know what 'we' are going to do? I'm going to bring the car back here." She shifted into her Digimon form and cantered off in search of the jeep without a backwards glance.

Mummymon watched her go, then watched the dusty land she had gone into. Eventually he went back to the gate room. The gate at the far end was still on, casting a weak green light. The unconscious Mummymon was in a corner, laid out with unusual care, for Arukenimon. The Human sat by his side and studied him wonderingly.

The Digimon version of himself was slightly more monstrous than he remembered being. The features were more emaciated, the flesh more corrupt. Or perhaps he'd just lied to himself about his appearance. He had stolen a kiss from Arukenimon not long ago, looking like this... He pictured this _thing_ kissing her and his stomach flipped.

Yet she had kissed back..? He had to be missing something. He remembered believing he wasn't so bad to look at... Not exactly handsome, but he'd considered himself dashing for an Undead type...

And Arukenimon, well.. she only _looked_ Human.

Mummymon's big, yellow cat's eye was looking at him out of that grey face. He looked back.

"What happened?" the Digimon asked, sounding exhausted. "Where's Arukenimon? Who are you?"

"Uh.. well, we're out of the complex, Arukenimon is bringing back the jeep, and I... well... You remember letting the Engine have you?"

"I'm amazed I survived. It felt like I was being incinerated."

The Human gulped, chills coursing through him at the memory. "You didn't... exactly... survive."

"What?" He sat up weakly, scowling. "Who _are_ you?"

He didn't know how to say it. It sounded too unreal. "Maybe I should show you."

"Show me then!" Mummymon demanded, upset, getting shakily to his clawed feet.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes I can walk! What's going on?"

"Follow me then," Mummymon said, his voice heavy. "It's in the engine room."

* * *

The engine room still smelled of charred meat. The Human led the Digimon to the dais where the wreckage of the shell of his former body still lay. Ash, dust, claws, warped knives, ruined braces. They stared.

Mummymon pushed his hair out of his face. "I was... inside all that," he managed. "And you were in there when we found you," he pointed to the recess in the wall. "T... Toeremon thinks the engine sort of... pulled you out of me, took some of your energy, and then put you back together." He chewed his lip. "I'm... I'm Human."

"You're _me_?" Mummymon stared at the Human version of himself in frank astonishment, and the Human stared back. "...You're... so perfect," the Digimon stammered at last, looking gobsmacked, heartbroken. "You're absolutely perfect, without me." He scowled. "I'm sorry I held you back all this time. Just... be with her, the way you should have."

"Stop," the Human cried, "No - don't you understand? I need you back."

"You don't need me."

"If nothing else," Mummymon pleaded, shoving that irritating silver hair back over his ear again, "think of Arukenimon.. I'm sure she'll _love_ us, if we try - but we have to be together first! The way we were meant to be! Neither of us are enough on our own."

"Look at you," Mummymon snapped, "What's not to love?"

"Yes, look at me! I'm _human!_ I can't fight, I can't create ports, I can't do anything! Sure I'm _pretty,_" he spat, "But what good does that do me?"

Mummymon cocked his head, looking down his linen-wrapped nose at the human. "You don't even have powers like the Chosen Children? Why not? Even though the Boss made us, we're still native to the Digital World - doesn't that-"

"No. I don't know why."

"I wonder," he said, leaning down to look himself in the eye, "If Arukenimon would like _me_ without _you._"

He looked horrified. "What?"

"If you are all the weak and useless parts of me - what do I need _you_ for?"

He didn't know what to do about that at all. He stood and stared, frozen to the spot, as Mummymon grinned and swaggered away towards the gate.

* * *

The Human Mummymon sat at the mouth of the gate room, looking out at the dry landscape. Arukenimon had not returned yet. His Digimon self had gone tracking her, despite his protests. So he waited.

Eventually the sound of the jeep approaching reached his ears. He jumped to his feet and ran to meet Arukenimon.

Arukenimon, back in human form behind the wheel, watched him running, and realised she was staring. She snapped her eyes to the land in front of her, parked near the gate room and vaulted out of the car. "Alright," she said irritably. "Let's get out of here. We'll make a plan when we've had something to eat."

"We'll have to find my other half first. He went looking for you."

"He.." She glared. "Why? You knew I was coming back."

Mummymon looked at the ground. "He wanted to see you alone."

"Alone? But you _are_ him! Ugh, I should have known you'd be as stupid in halves as you are all in one. Fine, let's go look for him."

"Unnecessary!" the Digimon Mummymon called out, jogging up to them, looking twice as exhausted as before, and trying blatantly not to show it. "I didn't get that far.. the wind destroyed your tracks, my dear."

"Before you flirt," she growled at him, "Don't. I am _not_ in the mood."

"It's just as well," he lamented good-naturedly, "I'm too hungry to flirt... Pumpkin."

She grabbed one of his arms and flipped him flat onto the ground. He looked up just in time to have a cooler full of wrapped sandwiches dumped over his head. "Not. In. The mood," she reiterated and, not having anywhere useful to go, simply turned her back on him and looked daggers at the innocent landscape.

The Human offered his hand to the Digimon to help him up and, trying to use strength that was not available, fell directly on his ass. He sat there, stunned, gazing at his soft, pale hand. He knew Humans were weak, but this was ridiculous! Arukenimon could throw him forty meters one-handed, even in her current form...

Mummymon was chuckling at him. "It's just not the same, being on the ground, when it's not her who put you there, is it?"

He looked up into the Digimon's single yellow eye. Oh, yes, it seemed to say, this is a competition. He stared defiantly back. The Digimon broke the stare to choose a sandwich. "So after this we'll make a plan?" the Human asked, reaching for one himself.

Arukenimon turned around. "No. Your 'packed lunch' scarcely counts as something to eat. We're finding a _town._ I am spending _this,_" she waved the ruby-red stone, "on some comfort. After that we'll see about a plan."

"Oh! I thought you'd lost that."

"You'll think I've lost my flute next. Hurry up with your snack. I want to leave."

"Of course, Arukenimon," the Human conceded, repacking the cooler and stowing it back in the jeep while he wolfed down a sandwich. He was glad that food, at least, was still as he expected.

"That reminds me," Mummymon said, tapping a claw thoughtfully against his chin, looking over at the Human, "what shall we call you?"

"What?" Mummymon stopped, feeling cold again. "Call me Mummymon! It's my name!"

"It's a Digimon name."

Arukenimon growled loudly. "Shut up! Shut up! You _morons!_"

"..Arukenimon," Mummymon said quietly, "Can I talk to you alone for a moment?"

"What?" the Human cried. "What can't you say in front of _me?_"

"Fine then," he shrugged, "Arukenimon, I'm a true Digimon now. I'm better than I ever was. I want to prove to you that.." he shrugged his horned shoulders, "That I'm worth your time."

The Human's jaw dropped. "What are you _saying?_ You can't just.. We're going to find a way to fix this! You can't just bow out!"

"Who says I can't? You won't have such a bad time as a Human. I remember being wistful for a Human life sometimes. Well, now you have it."

To his horror, Mummymon's eyes filled with tears and his chest got tight. "But... I'm _mortal._"

The two Digimon both stared at him with dawning realization. Digimon were more or less eternal, thanks to the reconfiguration process, and incredibly long-lived in any case. Humans did not get second chances. The Humans themselves seemed to be fine with that, on the whole. But for the newly Human Mummymon, suddenly realizing he could die, in the Human sense, was an epic shock.

"Well," Arukenimon said at last, turning to the Digimon, her voice sour, "In any case _you_ can forget about ditching _half of yourself_ to win me over. I'm not in the mood to cope with you two freakshow attractions' problems."

"But Arukenimon!" he whined, "I'm better! Stronger! I can-"

"I don't care how strong you are! _Leave it alone!_"

"What are you doing?" the human hissed to Mummymon. "You're just making her angry! Arukeni.. I'm sorry.. I'll have a talk with him.. I-"

"Why won't you give me a chance?" Mummymon complained. "I'll do anything... Please." He reached out to stroke an affectionate claw across her cheek.

She narrowed her eyes, raising a hand to rest on his wrist. "You can start by listening to me when I say LEAVE ME ALONE!!" With a quick shift of her grip and balance, she sent him flying. He smashed into the rock near the doorway to the gate room and tumbled to the ground. She sighed, feeling a little relieved, then saw that the other Mummymon was staring at her with trepidation. "What?" she snapped. Then it hit her. He was _scared_ of her. Sneering hard, she stepped up to him and grabbed a fistful of the front of his sweater, pulling him closer. "So... Nervous of my _temper,_ are we?"

"My dear!" he cried, looking terrified and lost, "I don't mean.. That is - I'm just not used to this yet! You'd be nervous too if you were turned into glass!"

"Well, get over it," she snapped, and thew him too. He hit Mummymon ,who had just gotten up and dusted himself off, and they fell in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Ow," the Human hissed, delicately getting up off his other self, who grinned.

"Truth told, we missed this, didn't we?" Mummymon smiled. Then a cooler hit the ground right next to his head, bounced, and dumped the rest of the food out again.

Then they heard the jeep fire up.

"Arukenimon?" Mummymon called, getting hastily back to his feet.

She was driving away.

"Wait! Arukenimon!" the Human yelled, as the Digimon ran after her and stumbled to a halt, realizing it was too late.

"I can't believe it," Mummymon breathed, "she _left_ us."

The Human watched the dust trail settling. "She left us." What was he going to do now? He.. He needed help.. Maybe one of the old Chosen Children might help him? Like Ken or Daisuke, who he'd tried to shoot in an attempt to impress Arukenimon... Maybe not.

Mummymon was scowling. "What is she playing at? I don't understand it..." he glanced at the other Mummymon. "Before you were here, she always accepted me."

"I was _always_ here," Mummymon replied in a tone of stony anger, his eyes narrowed.

"I'm a better Digimon without you, by definition. Why doesn't she appreciate that?"

"She liked us _together,_ idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot, pinky."

"_Pinky?!_"

"Shut up. No, there _has_ to be a way to show her..."

"Are you incapable of listening? She said she doesn't care how 'good' you are. She hates us because we're not who we're supposed to be anymore!" Saying it out loud forced him to admit it to himself and he started to cry. It was strange getting both sides of his face wet. "We've lost her.. You and me both, we've lost her."

Mummymon snarled, turning back to the open plain. "Maybe you've lost her but I haven't! I'll prove myself!" and with that he started walking.

* * *

A few minutes later, the Human half of Mummymon came jogging up to the Digimon half, carrying the once more repacked cooler. "Where are you going?" he asked, only slightly out of breath.

"What business is it of yours?"

"Don't be stupid. I _am_ you."

"You're not me. You're a part of me I didn't need." He grinned, tossing a glance at the Human. "I'm not ashamed of what I want anymore."

"I was never ashamed! I was considerate!"

"Ever since we were reconfigured, you were too afraid to court her openly!"

"How can you talk about me like I'm not _you?_"

"Because you're not."

"I am! And I can prove it - I still know who _you_ are, even if you're pretending to forget _me.._ I know exactly where you're going."

"No you don't," the Digimon said, but there was an edge of doubt in his voice.

"You think strength is what she'll respect. You want something clear and tangible that shows you're stronger now." He smiled, and was surprised at how sly it felt on his face. "You want to Digivolve."

Mummymon frowned and took a few beats to respond. "That couldn't be too tough to guess."

"You're going north. You're going to ask the Holy Beast, Xuanwumon, for a quick boost to the next level, from one of his DigiCores. Like Qinglongmon did for Paildramon. You don't think he would, but _you_ probably think you can make him."

He stopped and faced him. "How did you know that?"

"I. Am. You," he said. "We haven't even been apart a day. We're only different in the way we think and feel. And we can both remember how we thought and felt, all our lives before this. At least, I can."

"I remember being a weak, foolish, cowardly, kowtowing idiot."

"Then to win Arukenimon over, you need me more than I thought," the Human sniped back, "because you are a complete jerk."

"I _don't_ need you," Mummymon repeated, and resumed his journey north.

"Tough," Mummymon snarled, and followed him.

* * *

Arukenimon drove for hours, first in a rage, then in a mood, and at last in a quietly irritated calm. The day had forced so many feelings on her, and she needed to let them simmer and digest for a while before dealing with anything new. She thought she could see now why she was so upset; Mummymon had survived, more or less, but for all intents and purposes her lifelong companion was gone.

Perhaps they could be set right. There was no shortage of obscure machines and strange natural processes in the Digital World. If something could pull them apart, chances were something could put them back together. Only she knew nothing of such things. She didn't even have a clear idea of who to ask for help. Gennai, perhaps, but she had no way to contact him. If she was lucky Oikawa might by chance observe their troubles and send him - but Oikawa was still a scattered presence at best. Gennai had once noticed the pain she felt about the state of her former boss, and tried to comfort her by suggesting one day he might be strong enough to resemble the Oikawa she missed so badly.

But she didn't miss him, exactly. She still felt guilty for not choosing her loyalty correctly that day, thirteen years ago... She should have died fighting for the Human she'd known as her boss. She should've died fighting, like Mummymon.

She roared out loud and took a hand off the wheel to punch the dashboard, shaking her head sharply. She hated her emotions! She glanced down and winced at the dent in the dash. Mummymon was going to have a fit when he saw it. Which wasn't going to be too far in the future, since she'd have to hunt them down soon. She didn't trust either of them to be ok on their own for more than a few days.

* * *

She parked the jeep outside a small building in the town she'd chanced upon at the edge of the plain. It looked like a meeting or mess hall. There was a huge handwritten sign by the door: "Sick? Hurt? Free Help Today." She raised her eyebrows in amazement - some good luck at last?

There were a number of Digimon inside, in varying degrees of health, but the first thing she saw when she walked in was one of the Chosen Children. He was in his very late twenties, and looked a little fatigue-frayed around the edges. He looked up from his patient to see who had come in, their eyes met, and a hush of tension fell over the room.

"Well, if it isn't Kido Jyou," she drawled, forgetting to bother whether she sounded threatening or not. "What an astonishingly lucky coincidence."

Jyou had only really seen her once, and in Digimon form, but he could still recognise Arukenimon, one of the Digimon that had worked for Oikawa and helped to unleash Belialvamdemon upon both their worlds. He stared, fishing for words. He had heard she was back and not causing real trouble, but no details. If he was lucky, maybe she just wanted a checkup...

A white, seal-shaped Digimon suddenly blocked Arukenimon's view of the Human. "You stay away from Jyou," he warned, the purple markings on his face wrinkling with a warning scowl.

"Gomamon!" Jyou admonished, moved to action. "Uh.. What can I do for you, Ma'am?" He addressed Arukenimon cautiously, pushing his partner Digimon gently to one side.

She looked grumpy and sighed. "Look. You don't have to be afraid of me unless you get me violently irritated. I'm here for your help, that's all." She glared around at the other waiting Digimon in the room, who looked wary of her. "You can cut that out!" she snapped, and some of them jumped.

"Please!" Jyou interrupted, hoping to avoid the impending scene, "Come with me - Arukenimon wasn't it? Tell me what I can help you with.." he babbled, leading the Digimon in red to a room at the back, out of sight of the locals.

"My idiot is broken," Arukenimon sighed.

"What?"

"My traveling companion has had a mishap," she explained, "and I have no idea how to help him."

"Your companion?" Jyou asked. He remembered Oikawa's other lackey. They were still together, after all this time? "You mean Mummymon?"

"Yes, _him._"

"Well, what happened to him?"

"He was split in half."

Jyou stared, turning pale. "I.."

Gomamon raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if even Jyou is _that_ good of a doctor..."

She rolled her eyes. "Not _cut_ in half.. He went into some kind of machine and two of him came out. One's a Digimon. The other is Human." She paused and squinted at Jyou. "Like you," she added.

"You want to put them back together?" he hazarded.

"Of _course_ I want to put them back together!" she snapped.

"Yeah, what else would she want?" Gomamon echoed cheerily.

"I.. don't know if I can help you," Jyou admitted, rummaging through his pockets for his D-terminal. "but I know someone who probably can."

* * *

Koushirou blinked when he heard the ping from his D-terminal, but didn't reach for it, instead capturing the message and opening it in one corner of a computer screen already festooned with windows. He glanced over at it and, while his expression of deep concentration didn't lift, his eyebrows went up in interest.

Tentomon had heard it, too, and his head popped up above desk-level. "What is it? Is it something urgent?" Tentomon asked hopefully. He found, as calm as things had been lately, that he was always hoping for a little adventure. He buzzed up behind his partner's shoulder to read, but couldn't find the right window.

"I don't know about urgent, but it sounds interesting," the young man mused, glancing at Tentomon before setting about marking his place in his several works and setting up a few processes to run in his absence. "How do you feel about a little unexpected trip to the Digital World?"

"Sounds.. dare I say.. 'prodigious?'"

Koushirou shook his head, chuckling, and opened a Digi-Port.


	3. Tribulations

* * *

Arukenimon and Mummymon are back, thirteen years after the end of 02. Out adventuring, they become trapped in an underground complex, along with the strange Digimon, Toeremon. To escape, they must power up the complex - with Digital life. Mummymon does the honors, but instead of being consumed, he is split into his Human and Digimon halves. Arukenimon leaves them and contacts Jyou and Koushirou for help. Meanwhile, the Mumms embark on a quest of their own.

* * *

Mummymon squinted against the sun reflecting off the snow - which was _everywhere,_ and it was _cold!_ He pulled the hood of his sweater down a little tighter, lamenting his humanity again. The elements never _used_ to bother him... He looked ahead to the Digimon version of himself, climbing the steep incline with no trouble at all, huge feet keeping him from sinking far into the soft snow. He cursed quietly to himself in frustration. He'd had to rely on the other Mummymon to get even this far, jumping most of the distance with a Digiport shortcut. He'd been terrified that the port would do something horrible to him... but it had worked just fine. Gritting his teeth and glancing around at all the glittering, freezing whiteness, he petulantly wished it hadn't.

A brightly colored butterfly fluttered lazily past him. He stopped and stared.

"Well," a voice spoke behind him, and he jumped and spun round to see Gennai, the Guardian, standing there. "You _do_ have a talent for trouble, don't you, Mummymon."

The Digimon Mummymon had stopped too, similarly alerted by a butterfly. Six or seven of them were now wafting themselves cheerily around on the breeze, utterly out of place against the snowy hills. "An appearance of the great and mysterious Gennai," the Digimon drawled with a friendly, if pointy, smile. "What's the occasion?"

Gennai looked from one to the other. "I noticed something strange passing through a Digiport from the desert flats area. Or rather," he indicated the butterflies with a glance, "he did. It looked like a Digimon was dragging some hapless Human around, and I couldn't have that." He gave the Human an appraising look. "I'm sure there's an interesting reason why, when I look at you, I recognise you as _him,_" he said, and pointed at the Digimon.

"Because I _am_ him," Mummymon confirmed, tucking his hands under his arms for warmth. He was feeling colder now that they'd stopped, but the presence of the butterflies made him feel better overall. It had been a long time since he'd seen any of them, but these vibrant manifestations of Oikawa had always given him comfort.

He let his Digimon self explain the situation to Gennai. As they talked, he wondered what Oikawa thought of this. He wondered how much Oikawa could think at all...

"That _is_ strange," Gennai was saying. "I don't think I've ever noticed anything that powerful or that unusual in that area before-"

"Well, it's there," Mummymon returned.

"No doubt," Gennai affirmed, slightly affronted, "and I'll see that it's looked into. But what are you doing here? And where's your little sister?"

Both Mummymons scowled. Gennai never seemed to realise how much it offended him to make fun of the fact that the two half-breeds shared a creator. "Arukenimon went looking for someone to help us," the Human fibbed, still feeling stung about being abandoned by her.

The Digimon nodded. "And what business is it of yours, what we're doing here?"

The Human wasn't so happy with that level of disrespect - Oikawa, who he still thought of as his boss, _worked_ with Gennai now, sort of. At the very least he was allied with him. And that gave Gennai a decent amount of authority in his eyes. He shot the Digimon an incensed glare, wondering how the other half of himself was forgetting that. "We're looking for an audience with Xuanwumon," he explained, feeling strangely satisfied when Mummymon gave him a look of surprised betrayal.

"The Holy Beast of the North," Gennai mused, not missing either one's expression. "You never did think small. Well, he may be able to help you. You're a little off course though- the Holy Beasts spend most of their time in their own realms, slightly out of sync with the Digital World."

"I know that. This _is_ my area of expertise," the Digimon snapped, and the Human nodded sharply in support.

"Ah, but where did you learn from?" Gennai said, looking grave. They glanced at the butterflies, and he continued, "and where did _he_ learn from?"

Their faces darkened.

"I don't mean anything by it," the Guardian said, backing down a little. "You just have some... distorted information. Remember that you didn't recognise Qinglongmon. And I can help you find Xuanwumon."

"What makes you think I want your help?" the Digimon said, a little danger in his voice.

"We _need_ his help," the Human argued, looking pleadingly up at his other half.

"I'm not trying to offend you," Gennai said defensively. "I speak to the Holy Beasts often. I know how to get to them. I know the way. If you'd _rather_ wade around, lost in the snow for days, feel free."

"Please," the Human begged himself.

Mummymon scowled down at them. Why was it that now, when he was stronger than he ever was before, that he felt so weak? Why did merely accepting a guide feel like such a horrible affront to his pride?

"Fine," he growled.

* * *

Arukenimon, Tentomon, Gomamon and Jyou all sat in the now empty meeting hall, looking interested but mostly bored as Koushirou worked on something none of them were completely clear on. "I still don't see how this is relevant," Arukenimon muttered unhappily, rubbing her arm where Jyou had taken a sample from her for Koushirou to analyse.

Koushirou didn't seem to notice the question, so Jyou volunteered. "You're composed of both Human and Digimon parts, in the same way Mummymon is. We'll be better able to understand how to help him, if we know," he shrugged, "how you work."

Tentomon, who was used to putting Koushirou's thoughts into layman's terms by now, nodded. "It's like the halves of Mummymon are a puzzle, and you're the picture it's supposed to look like when it's put together."

Arukenimon snorted, and Gomamon chuckled at her sour expression. "Apart from all this," the cheerful Digimon said, waving a flipper towards the computer genius, "how have you and the goofy mummy been getting along?"

"Fine," she said frigidly.

"It must be hard," he guessed, "figuring out what to do with yourself when you've been a lackey all your li- hey!"

Jyou had elbowed his partner in the side.

"Fascinating!" Koushirou said suddenly, and after they'd all stared at him for a moment he looked up from his computer and addressed Arukenimon. "Your most basic information seems to be a true mix of Digital data and digitally rendered Human genetic codes, spliced together with monumental care and complexity. A hyper-engineered life form. I had no idea you were so artfully crafted!" His face went from excited to to doubtfully hopeful. "You wouldn't know if any of Oikawa's data still exists, would you? We looked for it after-"

"He destroyed it," she said, openly scowling at him. "He destroyed everything before we left."

"Ah... Well... I'd like to see how your Digital matrix renders in the Real world. Do you think we could take some samples-"

"Uh, maybe we should stick to the problem at hand," Jyou cautioned, as Arukenimon began to snarl in annoyance.

"Oh. Right. Of course," Koushirou replied, forcibly restraining his interest in Arukenimon. "Well, I can't really come to any conclusions without seeing exactly how Mummymon's code has been separated. But the integration of data in Arukenimon is similar to that which is seen during a Jogress evolution. The halves of Mummymon should be able to combine fairly easily in the same way a Jogress works; since the Human half is unranked the combined form would still be the correct level. They'd just need to find a way to cement the Jogress, assuming it didn't form a stable code like hers on its own."

Arukenimon frowned. "I've seen Jogress often enough. But I don't know much about it. How can we make him do it?"

Koushirou shrugged. "It's not very well defined," he said regretfully. "Like a lot of things in the Digital World, it seems to happen when the circumstances are right. Something as simple as a time of need might trigger it."

She smirked. "So if we were to arrange for some dire circumstances to put him in?"

Jyou suppressed a chuckle, shaking his head. "Faking it doesn't usually work in the Digital World. You can't trick them into Jogress evolution any more than I could have tricked Gomamon into Digivolving for the first time."

"We didn't have any shortage of naturally dire circumstances," Tentomon observed.

"This machine that took Mummymon apart," Koushirou asked, looking over his data again, "can you tell me any more about it?"

"Not really. It was big. It took up a couple of walls. And whatever it did to Mummymon, it got enough power out of it to run the whole building. Toeremon called it an engine. He said it was 'very efficient.'"

Koushirou hmm'd contemplatively. "An investigation of the machine itself would probably give us much more useful information. And I must admit I'm curious to see it. Jyou? Are you up for a little expedition?"

"What?" he said, looking a little disconcerted. "You want to go there?"

"Why not? We could disable the trap, have Kabuterimon fly us down the shaft, and break into the holding cell. Then we'd have a way out whether the machine was still powered up or not." He looked at Arukenimon. "You can find the spot where the trap sprung, right?"

"Of course," she affirmed.

"I don't know," Jyou resisted. "I'd feel better if it wasn't just the two of us."

"And me, Tentomon and Arukenimon," Gomamon piped up, feeling a little slighted.

"It never hurts to bring along some extra backup," Koushirou shrugged, fishing for his D-terminal. "I'll see if Iori wants to come."

"The first good idea I've heard all day," Arukenimon sniffed. "At least he knows how to treat a lady."

"You know Iori?" Jyou asked, as Koushirou composed a message.

"I know a lot of things."

Arukenimon got a kick out of being secretive and annoying the Humans. Only a few minutes later Iori and his partner Digimon, Armadimon, ported in.

"That was quick," said Jyou.

"You caught me at a good time," Iori smiled. "Hello, Arukenimon," he greeted her, bowing slightly. "It's good to see you again."

"If you see what I mean," Arukenimon smirked, casting sidelong glances at the other two Humans. "It's good to see you too, Iori, Armadimon."

"Ok, now I'm curious," said Tentomon. "How _do_ you know each other? Wormmon always gave me the impression that you were none too quick to forgive, Iori."

Iori looked embarrassed. "I was nine... My sense of justice hadn't exactly matured yet."

"Well, you're perfectly matured now," Arukenimon interjected, and missed the wide-eyed looks Jyou and Koushirou exchanged.

"Er.. well.. Thank you," Iori responded, and turned to the Humans. "Arukenimon is my favorite debate partner," he explained. "She always has a fresh viewpoint on very sticky questions of culpability."

"And she likes arguing," Armadimon added.

"Where's Mummymon?" Iori wondered, looking around. "Isn't he here?"

Arukenimon frowned at a random chair. "He's off somewhere being two obnoxious morons instead of one. Honestly, I couldn't stand them. I'll hunt them down once we have a solution to the problem."

Iori glanced out the window and saw the yellow jeep parked outside. "You didn't leave him somewhere, did you?"

"So what if I did? It was either that or throttle them both."

Iori raised an eyebrow. "Then maybe we should look for him before we go nosing around this artifact."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, that's where I left him anyway."

"You left him at the machine?" Jyou asked. "But you said that was in the middle of nowhere?"

"Yes, I left him in the middle of nowhere," she snapped. "If you're so concerned then let's get moving so we can 'rescue' him from his idiot self."

* * *

In what felt like just a few hours, they were nearing the field of ruby machines. Iori and Armadimon rode with Arukenimon, out front, in her jeep, while Tentomon, Gomamon and their partners followed in a cartoonish, rented half-track.

Arukenimon was feeling much more at ease now; she wasn't worried about getting her companion back, and these Humans and their Digimon were being reasonably... ugh... _nonhostile_ to her. She glanced to her side to see Iori, a perfectly handsome young man now, smiling into the sun. She felt a quick stab of melancholy poke at her soul and frowned, snapping her eyes back to the path ahead. The half-track was in front of her.

She swerved, cursing. Iori looked alarmed and grabbed hold of both his partner and the jeep. Moments later Arukenimon got the jeep back under control, and they pulled alongside the still moving half-track.

"What is it?" Iori called to Jyou over all the wind and engine noise.

"We passed a sort of bunker entrance just back there," Jyou shouted back. "Want to have a look?"

Without waiting for a consensus to be reached, Arukenimon swerved again. When the driver side wheels came back down, they were headed back towards the reported entrance.

"Maybe on the way back, you can drive," Armadimon suggested to his partner, looking slightly green.

"Don't worry," Arukenimon said, "on the way back, you'll be in that half-track monstrosity."

"Don't mind Armadimon," Iori soothed, pretending not to be shaken by her driving style. "He doesn't mean to criticize."

She looked at Iori as she brought the jeep to a stop in front of the bunker, her expression sour but doubtful. "I know."

The half-track came rattling up beside them and sputtered to a diesel-smelling halt. "Did you see this part of the complex before?" Koushirou asked, jumping down from the vehicle as Jyou climbed carefully out the drivers' side.

"No," Arukenimon answered, looking over the bunker door set into a rock outcropping as uninteresting as the one that had concealed the exit. She turned and scanned the rest of the landscape to be sure of where she was. "Because it wasn't _here_ before."

"But it is part of the same structure?"

"It looks like it," she agreed.

Koushirou hmm'd, searched for and quickly found concealed joints in the rock around the entrance. "I guess it _wasn't_ here before," Tentomon concluded, "Not so you could have seen it, anyway."

Arukenimon frowned. "I suppose it might have opened when we powered the place up. Maybe this is where that broken gate comes out." She scowled. "But that was in an emergency tunnel. This looks like a main entrance."

"I'm beginning to get a not-so-good feeling about this," Jyou muttered.

"I thought we were going to find Mummymon before we went down there," said Gomamon.

There was a hydraulic whoosh and they turned to its source to find Koushirou standing by the long bunker door, which was scrolling ponderously open. "We're in," he said happily.

An angry roar rang out, echoing off the scattered outcroppings, and every one of them snapped instantly to a wary readiness, scanning the dusty land for its source. They heard another roar and a fiery blast cloud exploded into sight above a nearby rock. Moments later a black, doglike shape on all fours rocketed in their general direction.

"That's-" Arukenimon began, and stopped when a huge black and grey Digimon followed it at lumbering top speed. The dinosaur Digimon saw them and tossed its shielded, horned head.

Toeremon, still running like hell, finally seemed to notice the group by the bunker door and changed his course to run by them. "Help!" he yelped desperately as he passed them, his heels kicking up dust.

The Monochromon chasing him didn't slow down either. It shot them a glare as it galloped past, but otherwise ignored them.

"Armadimon!" Iori shouted, "Let's go!"

Armadimon gave a purposeful nod and was chasing after Monochromon in the huge, armored form of Ankylomon before the others had even moved.

Tentomon joined the pursuit, Digivolving to Kabuterimon. Arukenimon watched all this with her usual air of annoyance. She looked down at Gomamon. "Aren't _you_ going to help?"

The seal Digimon gave a flippery shrug. "I think they've got the situation under control."

Kabuterimon had outpaced Ankylomon and landed an Elctro Shocker attack on the Monochromon's relatively unprotected tail. Still running, it turned to spit a Volcanic Strike at the insect Digimon, and got a Tail Hammer right across its face. The blow knocked it off balance and it lost its footing, rolling and skidding over the loose ground.

Kabuterimon and Ankylomon waited for the creature to right itself. It climbed to its feet and lowered its head towards them, eyes blazing with anger.

"We don't want to fight you," Ankylomon called to it. "Just go home!"

It glanced back at its singed tail and shot a short, halfhearted barrage of fiery breath at them before turning and lumbering grumpily away.

Ankylomon opened his eyes to find he had successfully blocked the attack from hitting Kabuterimon, and smiled. "Now that's teamwork."

Kabuterimon reverted to Tentomon and glanced around. "But where did the little guy go?"

Ankylomon stayed ready. "I don't see him, either."

"I'm here," the black Digimon called, climbing out from the cover of a hollow in a rock ahead of them. "Thank you so much. I thought I would be gored for sure."

"Toeremon." Arukenimon said as the three of them joined the group, "I thought you had other business."

"I have finished it," he replied, stretching his hands and shaking the dust out of the fur on his forearms. "I decided to return to see if your companion still needed assistance regaining his... oneness. But I found that beast instead."

Koushirou looked interested. "We're still looking for a solution. Arukenimon told us you were a quick study with the technology down there. Maybe you'd like to help?"

"Surely that is why I returned? Of course I will help. However, I do not promise to be of extraordinary use compared to so many Chosen Children," he said, giving a little decorative bow.

The humans smiled. Arukenimon rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you take us out this way before? When we were trapped, you said there was no other way out."

Toeremon contemplated the question. "This is the primary entrance. This door would require power both to reach and to open," he explained. He started down the corridor beyond the door. "I'm surprised the power has lasted long enough for you to open it now."

The others followed him, Ankylomon reverting to Armadimon and scampering up to Iori to take an offered snack bar. After devouring it, the little yellow Digimon looked over his shoulder and saw Jyou, Gomamon, and a receding patch of blue sky. "What about Mummymon?" he asked his partner quietly.

Iori glanced back too. "I think he'll be okay. The Digimon part of him is more than strong enough to handle anything like a Monochromon. He should be able to protect himself until we find him."

"Can you take us straight to the engine room?" Koushirou asked Toeremon.

"Of course. That is where we are going now," the Digimon nodded, stopping at the end of the wide corridor to tap at the keypad of another door.

Koushirou watched, interested, and suddenly his eyebrows came straight down. "Hey-!" he protested, reaching fast for the keypad. At the same moment, the door snapped open and Toeremon slid through it. Koushirou's fingers hit the keypad just as it went black. The door snapped shut, the lights in the corridor went out, and a solid portcullis fell just inside the main entrance, plunging them into blackness. They heard the hydraulics of the bunker door whine to life, closing it.

"Fantastic," said Jyou and Arukenimon, simultaneously.

* * *

If the way Gennai was leading them turned any steeper, the Human Mummymon thought to himself, he was going to start using his hands, snow or no snow. He missed the butterflies. He was so tired he could hardly stand it, when Gennai finally stopped in front of a narrow mountain pass and turned to face them. "This is the place," the Guardian said, indicating the gap.

"This?" The Digimon Mummymon scoffed, looking through it and seeing more snow.

"This," Gennai affirmed. "Xuanwumon's home, you could call it, can be reached through this pass. I have other errands that I'm neglecting at the moment, so I won't be joining you."

"Then let's go," the Human said, moving doggedly forward.

"Just a moment," Gennai said, holding out an arm to block the way, and leveling his gaze at the Digimon. "There are some rules of etiquette you should-"

"Etiquette?" Mummymon repeated, stepping closer to tower over the Guardian. "What's this nonsense?"

Gennai's eyes became cold. "I've led you here on good faith. Xuanwumon's home is hard to find because he enjoys his solitude. If you don't intend to at least be respectful, then I've made a mistake."

"You haven't made a mistake," the Human protested. He put an arm between them and was relieved when the Digimon allowed him to push him back a few steps, away from the Guardian. "Thank you for your help. We understand this is a.. a privilege. We'll be respectful. Won't we?" he demanded, glaring up at his Digimon half.

Mummymon's expression cleared and he shrugged his spiked shoulders. "If it will help."

"Xuanwumon probably won't help you if you speak him like you've been speaking to me. If you want anything he might have to offer, I suggest you listen to your new sidekick."

"Hey!" the Human Mummymon cried, offended.

The Digimon scowled again. "What is this? The moment I turn off my charm and say how I really feel, everyone treats me like some kind of Ogremon!"

"Because you're acting like one!" Mummymon shouted.

"I'm not a villain!" Mummymon shrieked back.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down, you kids," Gennai commanded over the noise. "I never said you are a bad person. What you are, is _rude._ That's all. Just keep a short leash on your tongue and you'll do just fine." He leaned over and whispered in the Human's ear. "Try not to let him do the talking."

* * *

Xuanwumon's realm was a warm haven in a hollow between unreal-looking snowy mountain peaks, a wide bowl of hard-packed earth with an impossible view of the region. The two travelers looked surprised as they entered it, because it could not be seen from the outside.

A truly massive two-headed tortoise with an equally massive tree growing from his shell, Xuanwumon was napping. They approached the Guardian of the North hesitantly, impressed by the air of power about him, even apparently asleep.

One of its huge eyes slid open and focussed on Mummymon. The gigantic head raised up, cranelike, on its ropy neck. "A guest?"

"Two guests," the Digimon Mummymon corrected.

Xuanwumon's other head raised up in wakefulness and blinked several times before really turning its attention to Mummymon. "Two, yes," it said.

"It's a long way to come here from anywhere for no good reason," said the first head sleepily.

"So we assume you have one..."

"A reason, that is."

"We do, sir," the Human agreed, "we've come to humbly ask-"

Mummymon interrupted him, stepping forward. "I need to Digivolve."

Xuanwumon's eyes widened slightly. "Is that so? Need to? Pray tell.. Why do you need to Digivolve?"

"Because I do!"

"To impress someone," the Human supplied.

"I see," the tortoise Digimon said, raising an eyebrow.

Mummymon turned on his Human half and hissed, "You stay out of this!"

Xuanwumon shook one of his heads in annoyance. "That's no way to speak to one's partner," he admonished. "Your Digimon does you a disservice," the other head said to the Human.

"'_Your Digimon?_'" Mummymon repeated, outraged.

"He's not my Digimon, he's _me_!" the Human cried.

Both heads raised in surprise, and suddenly Xuanwumon seemed more awake and alert. He leveled a piercing gaze at both of his visitors. "I see..."

"Look, nevermind _that_," the Digimon snapped. "Will you help me Digivolve or not?"

"Your... companion has a request also, does he not?" the tortoise asked, nodding at the Human.

Mummymon pushed the hood of his sweater back and shook the snow out of his bangs. "I want to be one person again," he said, sounding hopeless.

"You are one person."

"I mean him and me."

"Then what you want is to be part of a person."

"I guess so... It's just what I always was. I don't know how to describe it correctly.

I never tried before." He gulped. "I miss it..."

"What he's not mentioning," the Digimon Mummymon interjected, "is that _I_ am not so interested in going back to the way we were. You wouldn't want to force me, would you?"

Both Xuanwumon's heads fixed him with a piercing glare. "We would not dream of it," said the first, and the second continued, "But we might try to show you the error of your choice, and _convince_ you, before you lose the special properties of an unstable being."

"What do you mean?" Mummymon snapped, nervous and angry.

"In ways you cannot see, you and he are becoming a true Digimon and a true Human. Once the process goes far enough, you will never be able to recombine. You don't have time to mature as a Digimon and come to understand your responsibilities to yourself as you eventually would. It is best that we try to convince you."

Both of the petitioners backed away, not liking Xuanwumon's tone one bit, but Mummymon remained rebellious. "Convince me, then!" he challenged, brave enough to raise his rifle, but not quite brazen enough to actually point it at the ancient tortoise.

"Phantom Mist!" Xuanwumon called out. Both his mouths dropped open, his heads tilting up, eyes half-closing, and a thick, grey-blue fog rolled out of him. It moved fast, reaching for its Digimon target like a living thing.

Neither Mummymon could move, paralysed with terror. The Human watched the haze crash over the Digimon, obliterating him from sight. "What are you doing?" he screamed, torn - he trusted Gennai's judgement in bringing them here, but this?

One of Xuanwumon's heads was giving the Human a very strange stare. The other said, "Don't worry. I do not intend to destroy him."

"What is it doing?" Mummymon shouted again, uncomforted. The mist showed no sign of dissipating.

"It is different for everyone," he said with a shrug-like toss of his head.

* * *

Mummymon wanted to run, to bolt, his mind in chaos as the mist hit him. It reminded him too strongly of the attack that had killed him so many years ago. He wished his memories weren't so vivid...

But at least this was cool as it enveloped him. Dark and lonely and strange, but it didn't burn. "No," he whispered, trying so hard not to remember, but it wasn't working. He fell to his knees with a wail, and the sound was swallowed up in the cloud.

He heard a whip crack. And laughter.


	4. Reconciliation

Author's note: I hate this site so much. I can't use dd tags anymore?? ARRRRRGH.

* * *

Arukenimon and Mummymon are back, thirteen years after the end of 02. Out adventuring, Mummymon is split into his Human and Digimon halves by a mysterious machine. Arukenimon brings Jyou, Koushirou and Iori to the machine to help but the strange digimon, Toeremon, traps them there. Meanwhile, Mummymon has gone to seek help from Xuanwumon - but while the Human half wants to be reunited, the Digimon wants to be more powerful. Xuanwumon immerses him in Phantom Mist.

* * *

Mummymon bared his teeth in a grimace of angst, and he tried to shy away from the confusing sounds - a slow rhythm of whipcracks and cold, youthful laughter. Another laugh joined in, closer, older, and familiar. Arukenimon. 

His panic subsided enough to raise his head to see, grateful for any distraction from his thoughts of destruction. The thick mist still surrounded him, but as he searched for the source of the laughter, the stuff seemed to be lightening - already he could see his hands in front of him. 

"Look at him practice," said Arukenimon's familiar voice. "Oikawa will get a kick out of this. Look! The boy's given himself a _whip!_" 

"I don't know," came his own voice, making him recognize this was a memory. "It looks painful." 

An image swam into clarity as he realized what he was hearing. Before him, like a dream, was a scene from more than a decade ago, during his and Arukenimon's involvement in the corruption of Ken Ichijouji. They were observing the boy from a distance. 

Arukenimon humphed. "If those Digimon are weak enough to let themselves be pushed around by a little boy, they deserve whatever they get." 

"I suppose you must be right, my dear," he sighed, leaning his chin on his hand and watching her, an absent smile on his face. 

The images shifted and he could tell by the sheer volume of tantrum-broken objects and the chair Arukenimon was smashing to matchsticks that it was shortly after Ken's defeat at the hands of the Chosen Children. 

"That stupid boy! Everything was going so beautifully," she growled, swinging the chair again. "How could he _dare..._" 

"Don't give yourself a splinter over it," Mummymon scolded. "You know the Boss isn't upset - He seems excited about the new plans..." 

"All that work, wasted!" she snarled. 

"It's not wasted... And anyway.. Now that he's gone, _we_ can step into the spotlight. Haven't you been saying all along that you could show those kids a thing or two? Well, now you can." 

She paused in the destruction, scowling, which meant she was thinking. 

He grinned. "I bet you could even destroy them, if you tried." 

The scene shifted again. The Chosen Children lay defeated by Blackwargreymon, who pondered over them. Mummymon looked at the fallen children and their digimon, looked back at himself and Arukenimon. 

What had they been doing? The children had been nothing short of heroic, fighting to save the world itself. And if Blackwargreymon hadn't been a glitch of a Digimon and disobeyed his creator, they would have celebrated the death of those children. And by the end of the year, Vamdemon would have reigned over both their worlds. 

He watched himself berate Blackwargreymon for refusing to destroy the children and felt sick. It wasn't so much that he cared about them - he hadn't known them then and barely did now, and it wasn't in his nature to care that much about anyone he didn't know - but he knew death now, and he knew for humans it was even worse, and he could hardly bear the thought that anyone could throw it around so lightly. That _he_ had been willing to kill in a plan he didn't really understand or care much about. The plan meant he would stay close to Arukenimon, and he had never looked far past her. 

Blackwargreymon spurned them and left, and Arukenimon fainted into his memory's arms. He smiled wistfully - moments like that had been worth it all to him, back then. Well worth attacking the young defenders of the Digital World. 

The images ran once more and this time he saw moments from their many fights after that. He found himself growing more and more uncomfortable watching himself battle. Because every moment he'd held the upper hand, every time he'd landed a blow, he'd been grinning. It reminded him too much of Vamdemon. 

And as he thought it, Belialvamdemon loomed before him and laughed.

* * *

The utter darkness in the corridor was disorienting. Iori felt Armadimon lean against his leg for reassurance. A softly glowing square of light appeared - Koushirou's laptop screen. A keychain flashlight wielded by Jyou cast a little more illumination on the small group. Koushirou waved for him to bring the flashlight closer, and was halfway through assuring them that he'd have them out in no time, when Arukenimon yelled in anger and punched the door, making them all jump. "Stop that!" said Gomamon as she hit it again. "That's not going to help!" 

She shifted into her Digimon form and spit Acid Mist all over the door. Koushirou yelped as Tentomon yanked him away from the cloud of overspray. Everyone coughed in the rising cloud of fumes and the humans and their Digimon were forced to retreat back up the corridor- but it worked. Arukenimon kicked the softened door apart, ignoring the damage the melting metal did to the hard shells of her legs. The lights were still on on the other side, spilling welcome illumination into the corridor. Gomamon was halfway through congratulating her when she ducked through. They heard a yelp as she dropped out of sight, followed by a nasty metallic squeal. Iori peered through the door and saw Arukenimon taking up most of the width of a long elevator shaft, her legs stretched out against the walls. Her feet threw sparks as she slipped further down. 

"Spider Thread!" She called irritably, throwing both hands towards the ceiling. Thick, strong strands lanced out from them and attached themselves, and she rappelled down the shaft, spinning out more thread as she went. "Well, come on," she hissed, "Unless you're _all_ going to ride Kabu-whatever." 

Iori and Koushirou shrugged and leaned out to grab the line, and slid down after her. Tentomon buzzed out into the open space and transformed into his larger self. 

"All aboard who's going aboard," Gomamon said cheerily, and jumped easily out onto the waiting Digimon. 

Arukenimon reached the bottom, tore the roof off the elevator, and dropped through. She roared. "It's locked here too!" 

Koushirou dropped in beside her. "Can I do it this time?" 

"Be my _guest,_" Arukenimon snapped, stepping aside, and he set to work on the keypad by the door. 

The others jumped down into the elevator one by one, Iori catching Armadimon and setting him down with a reassuring pat. Tentomon buzzed in last, just as Kousihrou gave a shout of success and the door slid open. 

Arukenimon shouldered past him and took off at a run down the hallway on the other side. 

"Wait!" Iori called, running after her, Armadimon at his side. "Don't go alone! Wait for us!" He knew her fairly well from all the time they'd spent together, knew how desperate she was to prove she could do everything alone. And he knew how easily that attitude could lead to disaster. He growled to himself, frustrated. 

Koushirou and Jyou glanced at each other ruefully, and followed them. 

Out in front, Arukenimon skidded and slammed into the wall at the end of the corridor, roaring as she got her balance and found she was too big to fit through the only door. She shifted back to her human form and shot through it into another corridor, lined with open doors. She stopped to stare and growled again, snatched off her shades and threw them down the corridor because all there was to track was the desert grit Toeremon had left behind as he had run, and it was hard to see. The others caught up to her as she jogged down the corridor, eyes scanning the white floor. 

"Arukenimon, listen to me," Iori said, following close behind her. "We're all with you - this is a team. We have to work together. And I'm your friend. I won't let you down." 

She looked back at him, her rarely-seen eyes icy. "You spend an awful lot of time trying to convince me that we're friends." 

"We _are._" 

"Then shut up and let me track." 

"But-" 

"Can any of your mutts track at this pace?" she snapped. "No? Then SHUT UP.." 

"Why are we chasing this guy?" Gomamon asked from the rear of the group, struggling hard to keep up. "Can't we just leave him down here and deal with him _above_ ground if he comes out to bother anyone?" 

"There's powerful technology down here," Koushirou explained, as they turned another corner. "I'd rather not let him get settled in." 

And Armadimon bounced off an invisible wall. 

Jyou stumbled, trying to slow down, and ran into it with a little more control, Gomamon sliding up behind him. On the other side, Iori had stopped and run back. "Armadimon!" he cried, and pounded on the field, but his fist just bounced back. "Koushirou! Help!" 

Koushirou reappeared from the doorway he had followed Arukenimon through and ran back. "What happened?" 

Armadimon was rubbing his nose. "I didn't do anything! Iori ran through here and I was right behind him but all of a sudden this was here!" 

"I didn't see anything either," Jyou confirmed, then gave a little yell and pointed. "It's closing!" 

They looked up and saw what looked like a fire door scrolling down out of the ceiling right next to the invisible wall. Koushirou desperately scanned the area for anything he could break into to hijack the controls. "I can't do anything from here," he admitted, scowling. 

"You guys sit tight," Iori suggested, "or head back to the main entrance if you have to. Koushirou, you can look for a place where you can take control of these doors. And I'll try to keep up with Arukenimon." 

"But you won't have a Digimon!" Armadimon protested, distraught, watching the fire door descend. 

"I'll have Arukenimon," he replied, and turned to sprint away in the direction she had gone. 

"I was afraid he'd say that," said Jyou. 

"He likes her," Armadimon pouted, and the fire door clanked shut. 

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Tentomon asked his partner. 

Koushirou thought for a moment. "If Toeremon shut that door, there must be a control access somewhere on the route he's been running," he guessed. "So I suppose the most sensible thing to do would be to follow Iori." 

"In that case," Tentomon said, and buzzed off after Iori. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Koushirou followed him.

* * *

Mummymon watched the mist fearfully, chewing absently on one of his fingers. Nothing had happened for so long! He glanced nervously at Xuanwumon. "Is it supposed to take so long?" He whined. 

One of the massive turtle's heads blinked at him. "He must face his trial alone." The other still stared at him with the same strange expression. 

"Alone? But... we were never meant to be alone, not like this," he protested. 

"Nevertheless, alone." 

"What if he needs me?" 

"The very point is that he needs you," Xuanwumon scolded. "He must be shown this." 

Mummymon stared dubiously for a long moment. "Are you torturing him?" 

"We are showing him the error of his ways." 

"And he has to face this alone?" 

"Yes." 

Mummymon snarled. "Well, I don't care," he snapped, and moved towards the roiling mist. "He needs me and I'm not going to leave him alone!" 

Fear clutched at his chest as he stepped up to the fog. He couldn't slow down - if he did he was afraid he'd lose his nerve. So he shut his eyes and flinched away and walked straight into the dark cloud. It was like plunging into cold water - he gasped and wet air filled his lungs. Then, as if underwater, he heard himself sobbing. He followed the sound, worried and feeling off-balance in the featureless mist. A shape swam into view through the fog and he jogged towards it, stopping short as he saw what it was. 

His Digimon self was sitting on the ground. Towering above him was a silent, misty image of Belialvamdemon. The Digimon looked up at the human and made a quiet sound of anguish before looking back down at Arukenimon, sprawled out before him, unmoving. "I couldn't help her," he whined quietly. 

Mummymon swallowed hard, trying to keep a grip on himself. This was just a mind-affecting attack... Just a vision. "There was nothing we could have done," he said, trying to sound comforting. "And it all turned out all right... This is all in our past now. Arukenimon is ok." 

The Digimon shook his head. "She's not ok. She's screwed up from everything we went through back then. And so are we." 

He shrugged helplessly. "There was nothing we could have done to stop-" 

"Yes there was!!" Mummymon hissed. "Don't you duck out of this! We could have stopped before it ever got that far. We could have questioned our orders. We could even have fought alongside the Chosen Children! ...We didn't." he gazed at Arukenimon and stroked her shoulder sadly. 

The human stared, his words sinking in. He was right. Oikawa had never had any power over them that he knew of.. they could have disobeyed if they'd wanted to. But it had all seemed like so much fun, an adventure, a quest - and he'd wanted to please Oikawa - and it had kept him close to Arukenimon. He'd been happy by her side, and questioned nothing, and walked right into their destruction. "I.. You're right," he mumbled, and crouched down next to himself. "But... it's still in the past. It can't be helped. We just have to learn from our mistakes like anyone." 

Mummymon shook his head again. "We haven't though, have we? What have we been doing? Wandering around, only concerned for ourselves. We don't have orders anymore, that's the only difference." 

"Who else should we be concerned about?" Mummymon asked. 

"Anyone!" he said, raising his voice. "Anyone.. We should be interested.. We should help.. We helped to do a lot of damage to this world and it gave us our _lives_ back.. We should give something, too." 

The human stared at his other self in shock. Was this the same jerk who had been questing for power a few hours ago? He guessed he should have had more confidence in himself. "Maybe you're right," he said quietly. "Maybe we should do something good." For no reason he knew, he felt like crying. He stared around into the mist, trying to shake it off, and noticed the image of Belialvamdemon was disappearing, as if blowing away. 

Both halves of Mummymon started with surprise when Arukenimon sat up and muttered, "What are you two whining about now?" 

"We.. well, we were thinking we ought to do something good." 

"Good?" Arukenimon repeated blankly, dusting herself off and adjusting her hat and shades. 

"Like.. volunteer to help with something. You know. Something good." 

She scowled. "Why?" 

The human hesitated. His counterpart filled in. "Because we can. Because we should. Because I want to. It's a beautiful world. I'd like to be able to say I did more than just live in it." 

"What nonsense," she sniffed, not looking at him. "And if I don't want to come along for the ride?" 

"It was just an idea," the human deferred, sounding defeated. 

"It is _not_ just an idea!" his Digimon half retorted, slightly scandalized. "You're me, aren't you? You're just as sure as I am about this!" 

"But Arukenimon won't stay with us if we-" 

"That's not Arukenimon, you know." 

"Hey!" Arukenimon snapped. 

"Of course I know that," the human continued, pleading, "but she's right. Arukenimon won't be interested in this." 

"So what?" the Digimon said, crossing his arms. 

"She'll leave us," the human wailed, close to panic. 

Mummymon laughed. "She won't leave us. She loves us. Don't you know that?" 

"I've never known that!" he cried. "I just wanted it to be true.. But it's not.. She doesn't... She already left us because of this," and he motioned to himself and his Digimon half in frustration. 

But Mummymon just grinned. "Oh, I'll admit that worried me for a moment. But she's always been hotheaded. And we _were-_" 

"Glad to see you have the courage to insult me when I'm not around," Arukenimon interrupted. 

"You know I love you, poopsie," Mummymon grinned, poking the end of her nose with one claw. 

"I hope your head falls off," she muttered, slapping his hand away. 

The Digimon's grin faded as he watched himself thoughtfully. "You really _don't_ believe she loves you, do you?" 

Mummymon stared into the unreadable shades of the illusory Arukenimon. "N.. no," he admitted. "I hope she does... but..." 

The Digimon sighed. "That's too bad. When we're together again you still won't feel the certainty I have. But at least my feelings will be a part of us again." 

"Together?" Mummymon asked, looking up. "I thought you were happy to get rid of me." 

"I changed my mind," Mummymon shrugged. "You were right when you said she'd love us if we were together again." 

"Ugh.. Morons," Arukenimon commented, turning insubstantial. She melted into the mist, and it blew away like a passing cloud, leaving them alone together on the hard earth, snow still whistling by outside the mountain haven. They got to their feet, seeing Xuanwumon's piercing gaze was still leveled at them. 

A tense silence stretched out between them. Finally, the Digimon Mummymon snarled, "You could have found a way to convince me without making me watch us DIE again." 

One of Xuanwumon's heads tilted in a little shrug. "I am sorry you had to relive an unpleasant memory. But the mist sees what one fails to see in oneself, and it finds the most direct path to clarity." 

"Mummymon," the quieter head said to the Digimon, "You now understand that your current state is unsatisfactory. And you," he said, turning to the human, "I was glad to see you refuse to stand by and leave him alone." 

He blinked, confused. "You _told_ me not to help." 

Xuanwumon inclined his head slightly. "He did not need your help. But I was curious to see if you could overcome your nature." 

"My nature?" 

"It is in your nature," the tortoise narrowed its eyes in a reptilian grin, "to obey." 

The Digimon snickered and poked the human in the ribs with an elbow. 

"Hey," the human complained, shoving him away by the arm. 

Xuanwumon cleared both his throats, getting their attention. "I have decided to help you." 

Without waiting for a response, he turned one of his heads back towards the ring of softly glowing Digicores that circled him. When he looked back around, a Digicore followed, floating in front of his nose. 

Mummymon's eye widened. "You're going to help me Digivolve?" 

"No," the tortoise said patiently. "I am going to give your other half the properties he will need to enable your reunion." 

Xuanwumon's other head looked straight at the human. "I am going to give you a Core." 

They watched in silence as Xuanwumon turned both his heads toward the Digicore and concentrated on it. Slowly he pulled his heads back, and as he did, the sphere distorted, trying to follow both of them. With a liquid sound, a small part snapped off, and each piece sprang back into spherical shape. He guided the larger one, which appeared unchanged from the original, back into the ring of Digicores. 

"Come here," said one head, as the other scrutinized the small new Digicore. 

The human Mummymon stepped forward nervously. 

"I know what this will do to you," Xuanwumon said, "but I do not know how it will feel. I apologize if it hurts you." 

He nodded his understanding and closed his eyes, chin up, trying not to be afraid. 

He felt something soft strike him in the chest, and a light shined so bright it hurt, but no matter how hard he screwed his eyes shut it made no difference. He felt strange, as if he was hollow and someone was pouring warm sand into his chest to fill him up. It turned searing hot and he clenched his teeth, trying not to cry out. Just as he thought he should drop to his knees to avoid falling over entirely, the pain changed back into warmth that spread all through him in a thousand jaggedly branching paths before fading away entirely, along with the light. After a moment he cautiously opened an eye. 

Mummymon was looking at him, concern plain in his big yellow eye. "Are you ok?" 

"Yes... I'm fine... It was just..." he didn't know what to say. He glanced down at himself reflexively. "I don't feel any different." 

"You are different," Xuanwumon assured. "Your format has changed, so to speak. You are no longer nearly so close to being a true human. And when the time is right, you and he will recombine, and it will be permanent." 

"When the time is right?" he said, shocked. "After all that all you can say is 'when the time is right?'" 

"I do not make the rules," the tortoise replied. "Stay together, and it will happen when it is ready to happen. Your audience is over. You may go." With that, the quieter head lowered to the ground and went straight back to sleep, and the other followed suit. 

"Wait!" Mummymon cried, "What do we need to do? What.. What do we _do?_" 

Xuanwumon regarded him with one annoyed eye. "It will happen on its own. Stay together and you will be fine." He closed his eye, opened it again to find Mummymon still staring at him expectantly, and hissed breathily in irritation. "_You may go._" 

"Let's go," the Digimon suggested, picking up his rifle. "We're not going to get anything else out of him. And I want to go back and look for Arukenimon." 

"I guess you're right," Mummymon conceded, and pulled his hood back up over his head, watching the snow fall outside the Holy Beast's realm. It was going to be a long walk.

* * *

After a while, Tentomon realized his partner wasn't behind him, and backtracked to find him with his laptop open, studying a display panel set into the wall. "Anything good?" he asked, but Koushirou only made a noncommittal noise; he was concentrating. Tentomon sighed. "It had better be, because we're never catching up to the others now." 

Koushirou turned to his partner, looking satisfied. "Is a complete multilevel working diagram of this place good? Follow me." He took off at a run and the insect Digimon flew close after him. "What bothers me," he said as he ran, "is that we still haven't passed any control points, and we're past where that Digimon was at that time, if we're taking the path he took." 

"Maybe we're not, then," Tentomon suggested sensibly. "Maybe the spider woman lost his trail." 

"Maybe I did!" Arukenimon snapped, appearing around a corner in front of them, Iori a few paces behind her, looking a little winded. 

"Has anyone ever told you, you're beautiful when you're angry?" Tentomon said hopefully. 

"Tentomon!" Iori hissed. 

"Well, since Gomamon isn't here.." he reasoned. 

"Anyway, we're lost," Iori confirmed. "How was _your_ luck?" 

"Better. I have a map. I can lead us to the engine room." 

"Then what are we waiting for? Move!" Arukenimon commanded, and Koushirou set off down a new corridor. 

"You see?" Iori grinned at Arukenimon. "Teamwork.." 

"Shut up," she muttered. 

"There's an infostack room on the way," Koushirou mentioned. "I'd like to stop off there and get some real information about this place. I'll catch up once I'm satisfied." 

"So, sometime next year then," Tentomon buzzed. 

"Toeremon's tracks are everywhere," Iori said. "He must have been exploring this place all day." 

Koushirou hmmed. "A distinct advantage." 

"But we have numbers," Arukenimon asserted. 

"We used to have more," Iori cautioned. "We can't let him split us up any further." 

"Er.. this is where I take a different route," Koushirou said apologetically. He outlined the way to the engine room for the others and headed down a side corridor. "Good luck," he called back, Tentomon following over his shoulder. "I'll see if I can't free Jyou and the others from where I'm headed." 

"And then there were two," Iori said ruefully. Arukenimon rolled her eyes and took off running once again. 

They skidded around a corner and through a door into a new hallway and Arukenimon slowed, looking around. "I think I've been here before," she muttered, matching up her memories with Koushirou's directions. "Yes - this way! We're close." 

Shortly they reached the kicked-in door of the engine room, and Arukenimon transformed again before ducking through, Iori right behind her. 

The room was full of cages. Most of them were empty. A Numemon regarded them balefully from a small cage by the door. 

And two cages up on the dais held Armadimon and Gomamon. 

"Iori!" Armadimon cried. 

"So you found your way," Toeremon said, looking up from his work at one of the banks of controls. "Stay back," he cautioned, "or I will do permanent damage to your friend." He motioned to Jyou, who was lying in a corner, hands tied, unconscious. 

Arukenimon glanced down at Iori, looking for a cue, but he was silent, his eyes burning with outrage. She remembered that look from another life, when he'd been a boy and she... well, she'd been trying to destroy him. 

But she didn't want to destroy him any more. He was her friend, and she would not fail him. 

"How could you do this to your fellow Digimon?!" Iori shouted. 

"I _have_ no fellow Digimon," Toeremon snarled. "My kind were destroyed by those who were jealous and afraid of our power!" 

"What? ...But not by _these_ Digimon!" he protested, motioning to the prisoners. "They're innocent!" 

Toeremon shrugged. "Sacrificed for a greater cause." 

"Iori!!" Armadimon wailed. 

"Armadimon! I won't let him hurt you-" 

Toeremon laughed sharply. "You really think you have a say in this? You can't stop me." 

"Brave words from someone facing an Ultimate," Arukenimon growled, stepping forward. 

"Not at all," Toeremon smiled, pecking a few controls, and one of the three beam emitters that had been focused on the dais turned to track her. "Do _not_ come any closer. I mean it." 

"I trusted you and you lied to me," Arukenimon hissed. "I _hate_ that..." 

"I hardly lied. We were both here for the first time when we met. I am just a fast learner- and this is my people's technology." He finally turned from the instruments and faced them. "I never knew another Toeremon. For years I did not know there had been any others. Finally I learned that before I was hatched, the Toeremon people were building a secret complex when they were attacked and wiped out by other Digimon. So I vowed to find it and use it to wreak our revenge." He nodded to Arukenimon. "I fell into that trap while I was searching for this place." 

Arukenimon shook her head. "I'm not opposed to revenge. But this isn't revenge. It's a tantrum." 

Toeremon's eyes widened in surprised rage. "What? No it is not!" 

"How can it be revenge when you have no idea what happened? You weren't even hatched!" 

"I'll find out!" he snarled, and turned back to operate the controls. "And when I do I'll be _ready!_" 

The air warped as a field of energy sprang into life up on the dais. "No!" Iori cried, running to Armadimon, jumping up on the dais with him. "You have to stop!" 

Toeremon ignored him. The two beams still focussed on the dais fired. Gomamon screamed. Armadimon cried out in horror at the sight of Iori, standing in the way of the other beam, taking it square on his back. 

Iori blinked in surprise. He had braced himself, but the beam didn't seem to be doing anything to him at all. He would be able to protect his partner! But - his eyes locked on Gomamon and he shivered - he couldn't save them both... 

Koushirou hurtled through the door, taking in the situation with a glance, and ran for the dais. "Tentomon," he shouted, "Help Jyou!" He bounded up next to the cage holding the writhing Gomamon and boldly stood in the way of the beam. The seal Digimon blinked, looked up, and shouted his friend's name joyfully. 

Beside him, Iori waited expectantly. Koushirou had a burning, determined look on his face, which was usually a bad sign. 

"Are you ok?" Armadimon asked his partner worriedly. 

"He's fine," Koushirou assured, "these harvesters don't affect us." 

Gomamon stared hopefully down at Tentomon, who was working on Jyou's bonds. "Any luck?" 

"Help me with him," Tentomon buzzed frantically, "he just won't come around!" 

"Jyou!" Gomamon called, pounding on the inside of his cage, "wake up!" 

Toeremon looked around and roared, "What are you DOING?" 

"Wait!" Koushirou called, "Listen to me! You can't use the Engine. It's dangerous. Your people gave everything to heal the damage their machine caused!" 

Toeremon looked like he might start foaming at the mouth. "WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE??" 

"I've been reading the information the Toeremon left for their survivors- for you! They used this as a power source until they found out it was causing a rift in the fabric of the Digital World. They created a program to heal that rift, and they all sacrificed themselves to the Engine to create enough power to run it. And YOU were reconfigured from what was left over- right there!" Koushirou pointed to the cubby where the Digimon Mummymon had appeared - the one with the padded floor. There were Digi-egg sized hollows in the padding. 

Toeremon's fur was bristling. "A rift in reality? Do you expect me to believe this? A rift from what stress?" 

Koushirou tilted his head down, his eyes a challenge. "The Engine was designed to provide free energy from Digital life itself. They would use themselves or other Digimon to power the Engine and then bring them back as mature Digi-eggs, bypassing the normal reconfiguration process and the time it takes. Eventually this unbalanced the flow of energy in the Digital World and created a rift." 

The jackal Digimon blinked, his eyes wide with disbelief and shock. He snarled, his expression closing, fortified with hatred. "Then I will avenge only myself! The last of a great civilization!" 

"Toeremon, no!" Iori pleaded. "You don't have to do this! Please, let them-" 

Arukenimon charged towards Toeremon, and he snarled and fired the third beam on her. It struck her square in the chest and she screamed and stumbled, crashing heavily to the floor. She couldn't believe it hurt so much! 

Suddenly the pain stopped. She shook her head to clear it and looked up. Jyou was standing before her, blocking the beam. For a moment she just stared. She knew the Chosen Children would accept and defend almost anyone, but it was still hard for her to believe- this Human actually stepping into the line of fire for her. That was the sort of thing she expected Mummymon to do. 

Toeremon roared in frustration. "Percussive Kick!" he shouted, and Jyou was sent tumbling across the room. 

The beam clipped Arukenimon again but she was already in the air. "Spider Thread!" she called out, before Toeremon had righted himself from the Kick. Thin, steel-strong strands of silk lanced out towards the Digimon and wrapped him tight. He recovered his composure and started to flex to try to break free, only to be yanked off his feet. Aru landed near him, stomping as she hit so that she left dents in the metal floor. It sent a spike of pain up through her legs but it felt good, as Toeremon twitched away. She grabbed him and hauled him off the ground, growling, showing most of her sharp teeth. 

"Wait!" Iori cried. 

Arukenimon stopped and glanced at him. "Wait for what?" 

"Don't hurt him!" he pleaded. 

"Well, don't hurt him _too_ much," Gomamon interjected. 

"Ha!" She glared at the Digimon. "I intend to do a lot more than that..." 

"Please," Toeremon shuddered. 

She narrowed her eyes. "I have a very small good side. You didn't manage to get on it." 

Iori looked distraught. "Please, Arukenimon! He's a living thing- we should give him a second chance!" 

"He can have the same second chance I had," she snapped, and threw the bundled up Digimon into the focus of the beam he had used on her. He shrieked as it hit him, and howled and howled as the light devoured him. 

Everyone stared. 

"Arukenimon," Iori whispered, his voice raspy. 

"Jyou, are you injured?" Koushirou called out. 

"I'm fine.. Can't say it's been the best day but-" 

"Take over for me, then. I need to shut down this equipment, now." 

Jyou nodded purposefully and hurried to take the prodigy's place protecting Gomamon. Koushirou sprinted around to deck after deck and back again until, with the magical sound of turbines spinning down, the beams and lights shut off and the tingling field dissipated from the air. The battery lights came on, brighter and fully charged, but still leaving the large room gloomy. 

"Why did you do it?" Iori demanded, staring angrily up at Arukenimon. 

She looked irritated and uncertain, her wide, sharp-toothed mouth grimacing. She shrugged, changing back to her human form. "To be sure he wouldn't bother us again." 

"There are other ways to deal with bad Digimon," Jyou pointed out, working to open his partner's cage. 

She snorted. "Oh yes - that always works _beautifully_ doesn't it?" 

Iori's eyes were steely. "We won, didn't we?" 

"No thanks to you." 

"I'm talking about _then_," he hissed. 

Arukenimon bristled. "How dare- 

"Oh," Koushirou said, in a tone that made everyone present stop dead in their tracks. "There was a considerable amount of energy saved up here. Now that I've shut everything down, it's going to reconfigure the excess." 

"It's what?" Jyou said. 

"Eggs," he clarified. "Here's where we discover whether or not the fabric of this world will be damaged." 

The battery lights went out, plunging the room into blackness. But then there were shimmers of light coming from somewhere.. 

Jyou gasped, the others watched in amazed silence as every surface in the room seemed to light up with beads of pale green energy, all moving towards channels in the walls. It was like dew, drops of energy growing until the force caught them and they ran. The room seemed to flicker and flash, and stick on pitch darkness, then the battery lights swelled to life once more. 

"I guess.. we made it?" Jyou ventured. 

Koushirou nodded. "The area is badly stressed, but it should recover." 

"Look what else has been recovered," Iori directed their attention to the walls. 

Three more of the small padded cells were open now, and each one contained four Digi-Eggs. 

Arukenimon sighed. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse."

* * *

The two halves of Mummymon walked together down the mountain. The human went a little too fast, enjoying the feeling of falling into each step. The Digimon chuckled as the human sank up to the thigh in powdery snow. "What are you so happy about?" 

"You're kidding. About being me again! I didn't really think he would help us." 

He shook his head, smiling, but looking a bit grim. "Aren't you going to mind it - giving up what you are _now?_" 

"What? No.. We're not giving anything up, either of us.. We're becoming more! Even more than that - the sum is greater than the total of our parts or something, right?" 

The Digimon sighed. "You're so certain." 

"But not about the most important thing.. the only thing _you_ are certain of..." 

"Arukenimon." 

The human nodded. 

"I don't know why you're not certain. You felt her respond to you, when we stole that kiss. She kissed us back." 

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything." 

"She's hardly ever left our side, all these years." 

"We were _dead_ for a lot of those years." 

"I'm not trying to count _those!_" 

"Ok, ok.." the human deferred. "I guess I just can't help it. Something in me just won't believe it." 

"Mm.. Like something in me just won't settle down and accept going back to being how we were?" 

"Oh.." he hung his head. So Mummymon still thought he was weak, unworthy. "I thought you were ok with it." 

"I am.. It's still hard to accept, though." 

"I don't know if I can ever accept the idea that Arukenimon loves me." 

"Balderdash," the Digimon scoffed. "I'll prove it to you." 

"You.. what? What do you mean? You're not going to make us kiss her again, are you? You know she won't stand for that kind of thing for long..." 

"What would that prove? The last one didn't convince you. Relax, I'm not going to do anything untowards." 

"But.." he frowned. "What, then?" 

Mummymon grinned. "Jogress and find out." 

The mountainside exploded. 

Everything was chaos for a few seconds, falling, tumbling, snow everywhere, and something was roaring, high-pitched. The Digimon got his bearings first, and looked up the mountainside to see an unfamiliar creature, a huge white insect-like serpent, poking out of a burrow in the snow and whipping around, apparently in search of something. It spied the human, struggling in the snow, and reached out to grab him in a pincer claw. Mummymon gave a strangled shout, raised his rifle, and fired. The serpent squealed but it didn't let go of the human. It turned to face Mummymon and charged him. He fired again, and the serpent dodged, the human in its claw yelling at the sharp movements. 

Mummymon froze. He didn't know what to do. If he fired again he might hit his other half. 

The serpent plowed into him and pinned him in the snow. Its mouth split open, heat blazing like a furnace inside, revealing hundreds of pin-shaped teeth, and drooled, melting the snow, scalding Mummymon. He tried to bring his gun around, couldn't move it, and fired anyway. It struck the beast somewhere on its length, and it jerked and dropped the human to bring both of its pincers up and plunge them into the snow, pinning the Digimon down completely. He yelled in terror, trying to wrench an arm free to fend the thing off with, but it was too strong. 

Then, someone was drawing the fighting knives from his harness. 

"GET OFF!" the human Mummymon shouted, brandishing a knife in each hand. Yelling, he slammed a knife into the side of the beast's head, where it stuck. It squealed and whipped back, freeing one Mummymon and striking the other with its body. 

The Digimon hauled his rifle up and fired from the ground, hitting the serpent solidly this time. It thrashed, backed away, and finally retreated. He got hastily to his feet and stumbled over to the fallen human. 

He felt a chill. The human was as white as the snow. He didn't look at all good. 

Mummymon squinted up at his Digimon half, kneeling beside him. "I.. I lost your knife," he grinned painfully. 

Mummymon swallowed hard around the lump that was suddenly in his throat. He'd never felt so alone and helpless in his whole life. Why hadn't they Jogressed? It was exactly the sort of thing that had always set it off for the Chosen Children.. Was it his fault? His reluctance that kept them apart? He reached out and covered one of the human's hands with his own. "You're not.. I mean... You'll be ok, won't you?" 

"I'll.. I'll be fine," Mummymon said, his pale human face streaked with red. "Xuanwumon said.. We would be alright together.. And we're still together." 

Mummymon wailed a little, frightened. "You were right," he cried, "I need you back- I don't want to be like this anymore.. I'm.. I look into myself, and so much is missing." 

Mummymon coughed redly into the snow and started to shake quietly. Mummymon drew his clawed hand back, alarmed, then realized he was laughing. The human looked at him with mirthful eyes. "I thought you'd never come around... I guess both halves of us are too stubborn for our own good." 

He blinked back sudden tears. "I'm sorry.." 

Mummymon laughed a little painfully, pushing silver hair out of his face again, but he was still smiling. "Don't feel sorry for yourself. It's a terrible habit." He chuckled uncontrollably for a little while, and Mummymon laughed a little too, smiling, but worried. At last the human regained some control over himself and turned his bright yellow eyes to the Digimon. "You mean it? You want this weakness back?" 

Mummymon shook his head, frowning. "You're not weak. I just never realized how much of me was human." He reached out and touched his counterpart's chest with the tips of his claws. "...how much of my strength was you." 

Mummymon looked up at himself in amazement, feeling truly accepted for the first time. 

A strange, eruptive sensation took them by surprise; bright light sparked out from them both and their eyes widened in elated surprise. "Is that all it took?" the human wondered aloud, feeling himself swept up in a torrent of power. There was a brief, incredibly comfortable feeling of sharing, which dissolved slowly into one of simple wholeness. 

Mummymon blinked at the brightness of all that snow, and turned around, searching. He was alone. 

He closed his eye and took a deep breath, tilting his head back. He grinned, and started to laugh.

* * *

Arukenimon fumed. This was ridiculous! What a waste of time. She balled up her fist and conked the top of one of the eggs in her lap. 

"Arukenimon! Don't do that," Iori scolded, and gave her a steely look before turning his eyes back to the road. 

She made a grumpy noise. "I hate Primary Village. I still don't see why we have to go there. These Digimon were all _from_ that area in the first place. And these were probably all Numemon anyway." 

"They need to be taken care of," he insisted. 

"How did you talk me into this? You must have cheated somehow." 

"Where have I heard that before," he muttered, and Arukenimon shot him a glare. 

The others had stayed at the complex. Jyou was helping the caged Numemon and a Gazimon they'd found tied up in another room find their way home. Koushirou was deep in the guts of the Engine's programming, trying to devise a way to solve Mummymon's problem. 

Iori was at the wheel of the jeep. Even with shortcuts there was some distance to travel, and even Arukenimon agreed that she was in too foul a mood to drive. Armadimon had chosen to avoid the stress of her being around by taking a nap curled up amongst the eggs. 

"I haven't really talked to you in a while," Iori said, glancing at her again. "How are things with you now? How has Mummymon been?" 

She sighed irritably. "He's been fine. He's an idiot. He's _always_ fine." 

"And you?" 

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it." 

"Maybe you do." 

She growled and slouched down in her seat, and scowled at the windshield. "...I fought alongside Chosen Children." 

He looked at her, slightly surprised. "Why does that bother you? You used to be our enemy, sure, but you never really had a _reason_ for-" 

"THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME," she snarled, but managed to reign herself back for Iori's sake. "You'll never understand... You always had a purpose - hell, a _destiny!_ You're about as aimless as a compass needle." 

Iori shrugged. "You don't need a mission to make life worth living. You just need to live, and learn." 

"Thank you so much for the glib words," she muttered. 

"It's not glib. I believe it. Purpose can be good or bad. For someone as long-lived as a Digimon, spending a long time finding the right direction isn't bad." 

"You don't even know if I'll live as long as a natural Digimon." 

Iori chuckled. "Look at you! You look the same as the first day I saw you, when I was a little boy. And look at me now!" 

Arukenimon's gaze drifted over the handsome young man. She scowled and averted her eyes, and realized she was blushing. Ugh, why was she doing that? She didn't even _like_ Iori. Not like that. She snarled again. "Everything's so unsettling. All the things I understood are useless. I'm only good for fighting, and there's nobody to fight. No reason. No enemy... No boss." 

"Do you still miss Mr. Oikawa?" 

She growled noncommittally. "Sort of. Not really. He's still around, after all." 

"Do you wish... you'd fought for him that day?" 

Arukenimon stared out the window. 

"You know... If you had... You would have fought alongside us. The way you did today." 

There was a long silence, and when Iori looked at Arukenimon, he was astonished to see tears shining on her face. He snapped his eyes back to the road, pretending not to notice. 

The egg in Arukenimon's lap chose that moment to hatch and dump a little yellow Zurumon onto her.

* * *

Mummymon was amiably wandering in the direction of the complex, as best as he could remember, when he spied something in the distance across the plain. He watched it, intrigued, as it shimmered in the evening heat. It seemed to be getting closer. He shifted into his Digimon form and raised Obelisk, just in case. 

He heard a buzz and moments later could make out flashing wings. Suddenly it stopped, apparently noticing him, and headed straight for him. And then it called out, "Mummymon? Is that you?" 

Mummymon frowned nervously. He didn't recognize the voice, or the approaching beetle itself - which was getting much larger than he expected. "What's it to you?" 

"Arukenimon's looking for you. I'm Kabuterimon, Koushirou's partner," he introduced himself, reaching the bandaged Digimon and looking around. "Where's the other one of you?" 

He shrugged, leaning on his gun. He only half-recognized the name, but he'd never met a partner Digimon that wasn't alright. "There is no other one," he explained, and shifted back to his more human form. "We recombined a little while ago. I'm fine now." 

"Oh! Good. Well, everyone's worried about you! Come on, I'll give you a ride back." 

"Everyone?" Mummymon inquired, climbing on a little precariously. 

"Gomamon, Armadimon, Iori and Jyou are here too." 

He was impressed. "You... _Arukenimon_ didn't bring you all here, did she?" 

"She did. Hold on!"

* * *

After dropping off a jeepful of Digi-eggs and hatchlings to a slightly confused Elecmon, Arukenimon and Iori had returned to the complex. Arukenimon watched Koushirou scan through page after page of information and poke various pieces of equipment in the slightly gloomy Engine room. She was getting bored. Jyou appeared through the gate in the room, the battery lights flickering from the drain, and she shot to her feet. "Did you-" 

"No," Jyou admitted, "I didn't see any sign of him yet." 

She made a sour face. She was sick of waiting. "Fine. I'll find him myself," she proclaimed, and strode towards the gate. 

She was about half a pace away when Mummymon appeared through it and collided with her. He yelled and she shrieked. "I'm sorry, my dear!" Mummymon apologized. 

Then Tentomon buzzed through the gate and headed for Koushirou. "You can stop if you want," he informed his partner. "Mummymon got better on his own." 

Arukenimon realized her hands were still curled up in the soft blue material of Mummymon's coat, from when she had grabbed him for balance. She dropped her hands and vainly pretended that he wasn't noticing her blush. 

Mummymon stared down at her as she fidgeted nervously, blushing to match her and feeling pleasantly silly for it. "I didn't mean to bowl you over," he said, smiling slyly, and looked around at the three young men in the room. "Did you really call all these Chosen Children for me?" 

She scowled, then realized that he probably thought her scowling _and_ blushing was the cutest thing ever, and scowled harder. "Yes. I'm frankly astonished that you could solve your own problem." 

"Aw, Arukenimon." He smiled wide. It was nice to be reminded she really did care. "I missed you." 

"You saw me this _morning,_ you twit." 

"So?" he shrugged, noticing everyone was watching them at this point. "I still missed you, my dear. I walked all the way to the North and convinced Xuanwumon to fix me. How was your day?" 

"Well I burned my legs and scratched my glasses and killed a guy, but other than that it was pretty terrible," she replied acidly, trying to cover up anything that would show she was impressed.. 

Mummymon's smile vanished. "You killed someone?" 

She tossed her head, unconcerned. "Toeremon. He tried to kill some of these sprouts' Digimon," she said, motioning vaguely towards the humans. 

"It's true, she demolished him," Gomamon piped up cheerfully. 

Iori shot the seal Digimon an annoyed look and explained the day's adventure to Mummymon, who listened raptly. Iori introduced him to the less familiar Chosen Children, and Koushirou tried to explain the details of the Engine's function to him but he zoned out, gazing at Arukenimon. She didn't seem to notice; maybe she wasn't looking in his direction. 

He blinked, realizing that nobody was talking anymore. "Uh.. So.. Toeremon was just.. _testing_ the Engine on me? Ugh.." he shivered, then grinned. "Thank you for avenging me, Arukenimon." 

A beat passed, and she turned her head away suddenly. Mummymon smirked behind his high collar. She _had_ been looking at him. "I didn't do it for you," she said sourly. 

"Whether you meant to or not, you did it." 

She scowled harder. 

Iori looked troubled. "You shouldn't ask her to glorify it like that. She destroyed a Digimon we didn't have to kill. That's never right." 

Mummymon shrugged. "Of course it's not right. But she fought and protected you all, the best way she knew how. And I'm proud of her for it." He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she blushed, scowled at the floor and hunched her shoulders. 

Iori was watching her too, and his expression softened. "I'm sorry, Arukenimon," he said earnestly. "You risked your life for us. Thank you." 

She growled. "Your Digimon didn't _need_ saving before I brought you here." 

"If you hadn't brought us," Jyou interjected, "who knows what Toeremon would have done before we caught wind of him?" 

"He would have done terrible damage to the Digital World," Koushirou agreed. "In fact I'd suggest that because of the two of you, we just prevented more damage to the structure of this world than your actions ever helped to cause in the past." 

Mummymon looked even more impressed. "Arukenimon!" he beamed. 

"Look, shut up, alright? It was just an accident." 

"Just can't take a compliment, huh?" Gomamon smiled up at her. She looked daggers at him, and he happily proclaimed, "well, I think you're OK!" 

Tentomon nodded approvingly, and Armadimon agreed, "wonderful!" 

Arukenimon stared down at the yellow Digimon. Even this little speedbump liked her now? "You're all absolutely mad," she muttered. 

Mummymon smiled, bemused. His poor Arukenimon. "Come talk with me for a moment?" he asked, nodding towards the empty hall. She gave him an annoyed look but when he walked past and caught her hand, she let him lead her out. 

"That's far enough," she snapped, pulling free a few paces down the hall. "What in the hell is it?" 

"They're your friends," he said quietly. "You don't have to be friends back, but... You should know they are friends to you." 

"I know that, you twit. But they're Chosen Children. They'd be friends with pondscum if it looked lonely. They'd be friends with _you._" 

"Wow," Mummymon said, impressed but not particularly offended. "Arukenimon... Wait. Are you saying you don't care because they're so easy to be friends with? ..or are you saying you don't think you're worthy of real friendship?" 

Arukenimon fumed. Of course she knew she could have friends. Iori had been her friend almost since her reconfiguration. Did Mummymon _never_ pay attention? "I'm saying you should shut up and mind your own business, how's that?" 

"Fair enough," he shrugged, and turned bashful. It was time to say what he'd been holding himself back from for so long. "Arukenimon... I love you." 

"I'm going to puke." 

"No, I mean it," Mummymon continued undaunted. "I stopped saying it because... Well, because I thought I should. But I've never stopped being in love with you." 

"I know that, you idiot. You tried to kill yourself for me. And the two of you whined about me nonstop when you were in pieces. You're not exactly subtle." 

"Oh. So..." Mummymon contemplated. "So you know I love you. But all I know is that you care enough about me, to team up with old enemies. Is it more than that? Or less?" 

"You know full well I HATE talking about things like that." 

He sighed pathetically. "Yes.. I'm sorry. I just want so badly to know." 

She growled. Why did she have to say anything? The mere fact that she was still _here_ was bad enough. Didn't he notice the way she got upset to be without him? "You know already," she snapped. 

"Oh," he said hollowly, his face falling. "I understand.. I'm sorry.. I.. I'll be back," he rambled despondently, backing away a few steps and starting to turn. 

"STOP," Arukenimon commanded, and sighed in irritation. 

Mummymon turned back slowly. "My dear?" 

She scowled. This was ridiculous. "I hate talking about this." 

He fidgeted, unsure. "So..." 

"Ugh," she muttered in disgust, and leaned forward and up and touched her lips to his for a brief moment before stepping back. She couldn't look at him. 

Mummymon's eye was as big as a saucer. He searched for words, then decided that maybe... it wasn't the time for words anymore.

* * *

"They've been out there an awfully long time," Jyou observed. 

"They probably have some things to catch up on," Iori smiled, looking innocent as always. 

"I have a lot to catch up on, myself," Jyou said wryly, "after spending the whole day on an adventure." 

"It's nice to have an adventure again once in a while," Gomamon reminded him. "I like the quiet life as much as anyone, but it feels good to be a hero. Even when nobody knows." 

"Hey!" Jyou smiled, shoving his Digimon a little, playfully. "I'm a hero every day. I'm a doctor." 

"Good for you. I'm not." the seal Digimon pointed out. 

"I know you're having fun seeing your friends, Iori," Armadimon spoke up, "and I am, too, but.. I'm hungry." 

"I think we all are," Iori agreed. "Do you think we should all head back to town and get some good food?" 

"Did someone mention food?" Koushirou asked, looking up from a console. 

"The one thing he'll tune in for," Tentomon chuckled. 

"Well, I'll want to come back here with a team tomorrow to study this place thoroughly and take apart the more dangerous equipment. But it's safe enough for now. And I am very hungry." 

"It's settled then. Dinnertime," Gomamon smiled. 

Iori knocked on the wall by the door and cleared his throat. "Are you guys ready to head back into town for supper?" 

There was a long silence. "I _am_ hungry," they heard Mummymon say delicately.

* * *

The drive back to town was quiet and lazy. A cool breeze was blowing, fanning their dust trail out for miles behind them as the night crept closer. Iori had volunteered to drive the jeep again and Mummymon, tired and distracted, had accepted gratefully. Arukenimon frowned, lost in thought and stuck between the two men. She watched Iori drive, annoyed at the way he looked at her and smiled when he noticed her. Then she looked down at Mummymon, slumped so far down his butt had slid off the seat, his hat pulled down over his face, snoozing, with Armadimon curled up and napping on his chest. She scowled. How could she feel so strongly about someone so.. _goofy?_ Why _did_ she find it so impossible to cast him off? She'd wanted to be rid of him so many times, yet without fail, whenever he was gone she felt awful. And when he returned, she felt... 

She crossed and uncrossed her arms a few times, fidgeting, and Iori glanced at her. "Is something bothering you?" he asked. 

She frowned. Well.. she _did_ trust Iori more than any other creature in the world. If she was going to confide... She sighed. "He asked me if I... you know." He raised an eyebrow and she gave him an icy glare. "..what I thought of him." 

Iori smiled and nodded. "And you said?" 

"I didn't say anything. I.." She pressed her lips together and glared at the open country. 

"You kissed him, so you wouldn't have to say it?" 

She glared for another long few minutes. "I hate talking about it. I hate thinking about it. I hate.." she sighed with a growl. "I hate _caring._" 

"Why?" 

"Ugh.. It makes me feel... I don't know. I don't like it. It's weak and stupid." 

Iori chuckled. "Arukenimon..." but as he thought about it, he sobered up. There was a _reason_ she felt that way. "So... You feel like caring is a weakness? But you know the sort of things we're all capable of doing because we care about others. You've seen us fight, united by that. You know how strong we are because of it. Maybe..." he paused, choosing his words carefully. "Maybe you were taught different. Like you were taught to think that the Chosen Children were weak. But we weren't... We were strong. _Because_ we cared." 

"I'm sure you could understand I'd find it upsetting to believe most of my personality is based on a lie," she said icily. 

"There's always time to change," Iori said quietly. 

"And what if I don't want to change?" 

"You like it then? Loving Mummymon and hating yourself for it?" 

"I don't hate myself for it," she snapped. "It's just _irritating._" 

"And what about him?" 

"What _about_ him?" 

Iori shrugged. "Think about how he feels. It's got to hurt at least a little bit for him, being in a relationship with so little openness and affection." 

Arukenimon _stared._ Iori glanced over nervously and wondered what he'd said wrong. 

"We're not _in_ a relationship," she said in a tone that could freeze roses. 

"Huh?" he said ineloquently, boggling. He'd always been under the impression that they were, well.. _together._ "But I thought.. You'd.. Weren't you two just _kissing_ in the hallway?" 

She sighed exhaustedly, putting her face in her hands. "Yes.." 

And she had just said she loved Mummymon, and he'd have to be stupid to miss that Mummymon loved her. He ran their conversation through his head with this new development in mind and realization dawned. "So you've only just.." 

"Careful you don't burn down the courtroom with that towering intellect," she muttered. 

He frowned. "At least now I understand why you're upset. You've been avoiding dealing with your emotions, and now you can't really do that anymore." 

"I haven't been avoiding them. I just haven't been thinking about it." 

Iori shrugged. "So you're unprepared. That's why it's so unsettling. Have you and Mummymon _really_ not been together until today?" 

"Who says we're 'together' now?" 

Iori gave her a stern look. "Stop that. If you try to act like he doesn't mean anything to you now, he's going to be miserable, you're going to be miserable, and honestly, it would be a very warped thing for you to do." 

She scowled. 

"Arukenimon... You've been a team ever since I can remember. You love him. He's always loved you. You want to feel comfortable again? Try accepting it, and see how that feels." 

"...I can't." 

"It won't be that hard, with him," Iori grinned, "just _don't_ beat him up when he shows you how he feels, and I'm pretty sure things will only get easier from there." 

She snorted, but it was enough to keep her from shedding any more ridiculous tears. 

"Mr. Oikawa would be happy for you," he said softly. 

She scowled and bit the inside of her lip. What did the stupid boy know anyway? "Stop dropping names," she snapped, "it's cheap." 

Iori stopped the jeep and gave her a such a wrenching stare with his soft brown eyes that she had to look away, unsettled. "I am not trying to manipulate you," he insisted. 

Arukenimon turned her head further away. 

"Stop that!" he commanded pleadingly. Arukenimon... Look at me." 

She didn't really feel like playing along... but she raised her eyes to meet his anyway. 

"I am asking you, as a friend, to try to accept your own feelings. That's all. They don't make you weak. They make you whole." 

Well if _he_ was so happy to bring her boss up, "they made Oikawa weak." 

But he didn't look impressed. "Not knowing how to handle his emotions made him weak. And he didn't know how to handle them because he avoided everything that hurt. Just like you are doing." 

"You don't know anything." 

"Then how do you explain how terrible you feel right now?" 

She bared her teeth, unnerved. He couldn't know how she felt. How she wished she could believe he was right, and how she knew that he was wrong. 

"And how do you explain how you felt, out in the hall, when you showed him what you thought of him?" 

She couldn't explain. 

The clattering roar of the halftrack caught up to them and quietened, dropping out of gear. Koushirou leaned over to ask why they had stopped. Iori shouted back that it was nothing. 

She wished he was telling the truth. 

And Mummymon went on pretending that he was asleep.

* * *

It felt like a million years later when they pulled into town that night. Gomamon chose a place to eat and they all slid into a booth. Arukenimon's battle instincts kicked on a moment too late and she realized she'd been stuck on an inside seat... Trapped by good looking grown up Chosen Children. She looked across the table to Mummymon, who was smiling hopefully at her, and gave him a deadpan stare of non-amusement. 

He grinned. She rolled her eyes. 

Jyou was surprised at how normally the rest of the evening went. Mummymon told them the tale of his day's adventure, clearly enjoying the chance to do so. Koushirou quizzed Mummymon on what it was like to have the memories of two distinct individuals and speculated on the principles of Jogress Evolution. Iori contemplated the way that two people could see things so differently. Mummymon pointed out that his combined self, able to look back candidly at both points of view, now saw things in yet a third perspective. Arukenimon sulked in a disarmingly human way. Gomamon ate his weight in something that looked like sushi. 

Iori was in a little shock from having learned the ex-lackeys still weren't involved. He paid particular attention to Mummymon, which left him wondering how Arukenimon could keep her distance for so long. The Undead Digimon really was charm on legs, winning smile after smile from the group of young heroes. 

Afterwards, Koushirou and Tentomon said their goodbyes, and parted with one last request for Arukenimon to volunteer for study. Jyou, beginning to look exhausted, and Gomamon, too satisfied and full to be very witty, headed off to get some sleep. 

Iori, Armadimon, and the two half-Digimon wandered out into the night and ended up sitting on a park bench looking up at the bottomless dark sky. A personable, digestive silence stretched into an uncomfortable one as Arukenimon watched Iori, who was clearly deep in thought. She didn't want to hear any more emotional blathering from him, but she didn't want him to leave, either. As long as he was here, she wouldn't have to face Mummymon alone. 

She was not looking forward to that. 

"I understand of course if you don't want to, but I'd like you to at least consider-" 

She suddenly realized that Iori was talking. "What?" 

Iori looked embarrassed. She hated that she found it cute. "Well, we wanted to give you a copy Digivice. Koushirou has been developing them. We.. well, I was thinking you two might be in the mood to help us out once in a while, when we really need it. With a Digivice you could contact us anytime." 

She narrowed her eyes. "And you could bother us any time you liked." 

"You know me by now," he chuckled, "do you really think I would let them annoy you? You'd have my hide." 

Mummymon laughed softly, and Arukenimon hated how warm it sounded. "She'll have _my_ hide for saying so, but I... well.. I really would like to help, when I can. I would be honored to." 

"Wonderful, thank you!" Iori beamed. "I'll talk to Koushirou about getting one ready for you." 

"You're insane," Arukenimon said to her companion. 

Mummymon shrugged. "I want to _help,_ my dear. And I think you do too, if you'll listen." 

"If I'll.. What?" 

"If you'll listen to yourself. Like.. Look at what you did today. You acted selflessly. I'm not talking about _why_ right now, and it doesn't matter. You can explain how you fought Toeremon for selfish reasons, but.. try standing back and seeing what you did. You fought to help others, most of them not even really your friends. So.." he paused, and looked at her searchingly. "Did you hate it? Did you even notice?" 

She frowned. Iori smiled. "I think I already exhausted her lecture tolerance for the day," he said, getting to his feet. "I should go anyway. You two have a lot to talk about." 

As they turned to leave, Armadimon said quietly to the spider woman, "You should give him a chance." The yellow Digimon nodded towards Mummymon. "He's a very comfortable person." 

There was a long silence. A Floramon wandered by, and didn't look at them. 

"Would you mind if I professed my love for you some more, my dear?" Mummymon wondered. 

"Would you mind if I put your-" 

"Oh, please, Arukenimon," Mummymon interrupted, sounding hurt, which sent a little splash of coldness through her. "Please don't be trite. I want so badly to.. well.. to hear what you honestly think." 

"And what happened back there in the corridor isn't enough?" 

Mummymon grinned wide. "Not _nearly_." 

"Ugh," Arukenimon sighed, letting her head loll backwards over the back of the bench. "Morons, everywhere." 

Mummymon's eye swept over the graceful curves of her neck and he smiled, sighing. He really could watch her forever. He reached out cautiously and stroked her shoulder, wondering whether she would let him get away with such a thing. 

She stared straight up, feeling his companionable touch, imagining which direction she would throw him whenever she got around to the throwing part. It felt... nice. It made her feel a little less lonely. 

Maybe she could do this? 

She straightened up and looked at him. He looked back in anticipation. 

"I won't say it," she said plainly. "Maybe not ever." 

To her surprise, he nodded, as if he'd always known that. 

She sighed. It was just as well, she decided, if her biggest trouble was feeling insecure about her identity, that she should find herself in a relationship with someone who knew her so well. "Come here, then," she ordered. 

He obediently slid up next to her on the bench. He put an arm around her shoulders, innocently, and kept on trying to pretend he was more interested in the night sky than in her face. She closed her eyes, getting used to the feeling of someone being so near her. Armadimon was right - he was comfortable. 

And for the first time ever, she had a sneaking suspicion that everything was going to be just fine. 


	5. Epilogue

They'd ended up in the middle of nowhere again. 

But at least the night was warm and pleasant, the painted sky clear. Mummymon unpacked the bedding and pillows and they settled down for the night in the shadow of the jeep. He expected to be yelled at for getting them so far into the wilderness, but Arukenimon seemed to be too tired and pensive to bother. 

Flopping down carelessly on his corner of the bedding, he sighed appreciatavely. It felt so good to lie down. He rolled over onto his stomach and crossed his arms on the ground, resting his chin on them and looking at Arukenimon. 

Did she really kiss him? 

Was it a dream? 

He raised himself up onto his elbows. She looked so small.. A slender form hiding a fighting Digimon. He grinned to himself. 

Aru's eyes dropped most of the way closed. Her curiosity kept them open enough to see Mumm near her, gazing at her as always. He crept closer, casually, on his elbows and belly. _On his belly, like a snake,_ she thought absently. "Are you awake, my dear?" he said softly. She didn't relpy. He watched her silently, so long she wondered if he'd notice she was awake. In fact, she started to drift off. 

Then she heard the rustle of motion. Her eyes snapped open to find Mummymon's face centimeters from hers, his mouth barely brushing her cheek. Caught, he froze, in shock and surprise. 

"What. Are you doing?" she scowled. 

"I was.. I was going to give you a kiss before I went to sleep.. Kind of a.." 

"Idiot," she snapped, "Goodnight kisses go like _this._" And grabbing one of his shoulders for support, she kissed him on the mouth, and managed not to linger. 

"Oh," Mumymon said, his eye wide. "Yes, that is better, isn't it?" 

"Go to sleep, Mummymon," she muttered, rolling over. 

He fell asleep with a smile on his face. 


End file.
